Harry Potter Mythologies: The Sorceress Seal
by Harry Scotter
Summary: A Harry Potter themed story staring me and my friends, and some original characters mixed with some appearences by characters from the books. A old foe known only as Sorceress Jilialessca is targeting Hogwarts... but why, and for what ultimate purpose?
1. Chapter 1: The Sorceress's Return

A/N: I do not own, endorse or have any association with the Harry Potter series, characters or mythology, or else I'd own a mansion like J.K. Rowling. I wish. SPOILER WARNING: these series I have written with the general assumption that the reader has read the entire Harry Potter series, so if you have not finished them, you may want to read them first as this may contain harmful spoilers. I'm no expert on the books, so if you read anything which may be incorrect, please let me know in your reviews. Thanks!

There was a sudden crack, and the four figures appeared inside the walls on top of the rampart. As a storm raged above them, silvery rain dousing their cloaks, the two men and women made their way along the walls and into the ongoing battle that was taking place the walls of the Azkaban prison, drawing their wands. Above them, the hundreds of circling Dementors hovered over the scene like vultures, preying upon both the fighting and the fallen. One of the figures pointed their wand at the centre of the Dementors, and shouted loudly, "_Expecto Patronum_!"

A large silvery four-legged creature exploded from the wand, its light radiating from its body and warded away the majority of Dementors in the immediate area. The charm, not going unnoticed by the duelists on the rampart, drew the attention of the remaining unopposed Death Eaters and Ministry of Magic officials left to guard the prison. Three figures in dark cloaks approached them and started firing spells at their chests immediately.

The wordless green spells shot out towards them, shooting up dust as they missed their targets by inches; by this time the figures had ducked behind the giant stone pillars of the rampart leading into the inner chambers, and had began firing red spells back. Immediately one Death Eater fell to his knees, stunned; another Death Eater was surprised as he ran around the pillars and had become ambushed by a man and a woman, effectively petrified by a well-placed shot and stiffly fell to the ground. The final opponent, a Ministry official, surrendered almost immediately as his wand was flung from his hand, getting down on his knees as the figures approached him with their wands drawn.

"P-p-please… d-d-don't kill me." The ministry official begged for his life cowardly.

"You are a ministry official, you ought to be ashamed of yourself working with this filth." The tallest and fairest of the two men amongst the figures said.

"That's enough, Axely." said the other man, shorter and more darker in appearance. "You and Atrice keep an eye out for more company. Dromeda, cast your Patronus again, let's keep these Dementors at bay."

The taller and more darker-haired of the women nodded and released her Patronus again, the Dementors circling their position.

The shorter darker wizard stared hard down upon the Ministry official. "Where can we find prisoner number BFN740?" he asked, his wand now pointing at the Ministry offical's neck. "Now, tell me. BFN740." he repeated to the shocked man, who at first seemed speechless.

"I don't – I don't know!" the Ministry official man croaked. "I don't – I'm not sure who that is! Who are you, what do you want with - ?"

"You're lying." The wizard closed his eyes and focused. The Ministry official could suddenly feel the wizard entering his mind, searching his memory; it took him a moment to realize he was using Legimancy against him. A vision of a prison door with the numbers BFN740 on the front swam hazily at the forefront of his mind.

"This way." The wizard said as soon as he had the information. "They've been holding her in the Forbidden cells."

"Cryal, what about him?" Atrice asked, inicating the Ministry official.

"Leave him." Cryal said. "The Ministry should know by now what has happened; let them sort him out." He swept his cloak behind him as the others followed, leaving the Ministry official to fend for himself.

They entered a doorway hastily past dueling wizards and Death Eaters, as more Ministry officals and Aurors appeared; their cloaks flapped behind them as they moved quickly and quietly through the echoing prison, leaving the screaming and shouting of the battle behind them. They followed moving stone staircases down the dark expanse, leaving behind the outside crumbling stone walls, until they reached the bottom of the inner chamber.

The shouting and screaming of the prisoners in their cells had been drowned out by a horrific battle going on at the bottom-most floor of the inner chamber, between two witches of immense power; one witch, quite young and with stringy black hair framing her pale face, had a malevolent grin as she cast a powerful dark magic stream like lightning at the other witch.

The second witch, quite fair with chestnut-brown hair but whose face had been contorted with lines of age, was protecting herself from the younger witches advance with a powerful counter-spell of a bright light, the two streams of magic almost evenly matched as they sparkled and cracked loudly against each other. Around them, the sanctum had shown signs of battle damage, with the torches lighting the chamber having been knocked out of their holders, crumbling walls where spells had exploded, and the door to one of the cells with the prisoner code BFN740 having been ripped off it's hinges and lay broken on the floor. At the bottom of the steps, having appeared to be frozen by a jinx, was a cloaked wizard, wandless, who was watching the ensuing titanic battle with an expression of shocked awe and horror.

"Wagel!" Cryal called, and him and the others attended to the fallen wizard, undoing the binding spell that was holding him. "We got word from your Patronus that the protection surrounding Azkaban had been lifted. What happened?"

Wagel mopped back some of his red hair, words forming from his lips as he tried to overcome both the jinx and his astonishment. "I knew she'd be down here after her… so I came down and… she won my wand from me… I never saw her coming…"

"He's bleeding." Dromeda said, and started the process of sealing his wounds. The others, now unsure as to how to proceed with their objective, watched as the two witches did battle. The younger witch using Dark magic was winning the power struggle; her magic pushed back the length of the elder witches magic, until suddenly the elder witch seemed to let go, letting the dark magic come for her. With a flick of her wand performing some unknown incantation, she reflected the dark magic back at the witch. The young witch blocked it and laughed as the dark spell rebounded into a wall and exploded, sending up dust everywhere.

"All of you, down there!" a loud voice called from above. Cryal looked up and saw what looked like thirty, maybe forty witches and wizards come running down the steps. "By order of the Ministry of Magic, I place you all under arrest for the crime of attempting to help an Azkaban prisoner escape!" a rounded short man bellowed, overtaken by some of his associate Ministry associates. No Death Eaters could be seen amongst them.

The younger witch looked up and snarled loudly, then turning on the spot, she Appirated vanishing amongst the dust. The elder witch lowered her wand and sighed, then turned to the group helping up Wagel on the steps. "I think it's best that you do the same." The witch advised. "I am surprised to see that she survived, after all this time… even more of a reason now that you all must leave and go into hiding, until the time is right."

"But Eda…" Cryal started, but the witch simply held up her hand and instantly the wizard was cast into silence.

"That is an order." Eda pressed sternly. "We can celebrate later when I come into contact with you all. But until then, you must wait for further word. There is much work to be done. Go. _Now_."

The wizards and witches nodded unanimously, and then after a moment of holding onto each other, Appirated as the young witch had done. Shots of magic spells whizzed and collided into the spots where they had been, as the invading Minstry members came into range. Eda watched as the Ministry flooded the stairways around her moments later, aware that several wands were pointed at her, and dropped the wand she was holding to the ground.

"Stay where you are." The rounded wizard bellowed out as he pushed his way through the crowd, addressing her. "As we speak, enchantments are being placed around Azkaban to prevent anyone else coming in or out without the proper authorization. You have the right to remain silent. Do you comply?"

"Why yes," Eda said as she simply smiled. "The Dark Lord Voldemort has been defeated. I'm not going anywhere."


	2. Chapter 2: The Hogwarts Express

Scott sat on his bed as he repacked his things into his suitcase, making absolutely sure he had everything he would need for the year and would not have to come back for anything once he had left. He was waiting upon an owl to deliver him a letter by post, which would give him the instructions he needed to get to his destination. Normally, people did not normally get their post by owl, but as Scott had discovered two years ago, he was no ordinary person, but a wizard. One of many wizards in a society shared by wizards and witches, people processing magical powers, which hid in secret or was discretely integrated into modern society from people that did not have magic powers, that the wizarding and witching world liked to refer to as muggles. By no means did this mean Scott was an all-powerful wizard that could do magic whenever he wished; wizarding law stated that wizards and witches under a certain age would not be able to perform magic outside school until they came of age at seventeen, regulated by the Ministry of Magic, and if anyone tried it would be detected by an unseen magic that is cast upon all under-aged wizards and witches from birth called 'the Trace'. Owls were the main way to communicate messages throughout the wizarding and witching world, and it was a message from Scott's school, Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that Scott was now waiting for.

He rechecked his suitcase; clothes, textbooks, a cauldron for Potions, quills, parchment, his school and Quiddich robes, and a Sneakoscope, was packed and ready to go. In his jeans pockets to pull out at a moment's notice were a few items from his Muggle past, including his mobile phone, a silver I-pod Nano, a black Nintendo DS and of course, his thirteen-inch reed wand, with phoenix feather in its core. He never really had a need for it, but Scott wanted to make sure he was ready if something went wrong and he would need to cast a spell or a jinx immediately.

Suddenly, Scott remembered something he had forgotten to pack; he got off the bed and stepped over to his wardrobe, opening the door and rummaging between older clothes for the object. Finally he found it, and pulled it out to examine it; it was a small sphere, about the size of an orange, with rubber bands Scot had tied around it. The reason for this was besides for the rubber bands surrounding the sphere, the sphere itself was entirely invisible.

Scott had received it mysteriously on his first birthday he had spent at Hogwarts; it had arrived in a simple piece of brown wrapping paper tied by string, and when he had opened it he thought it had been a trick when he saw nothing there. But after he had tried to get the small piece of written paper and found an invisible object was blocking his attempts to get it, he had picked up the object, feeling a cool metallic touch to his hand, and heard a sudden yelp from his friends when he suddenly vanished. It took him a moment to realize the sphere, when held, could make him invisible. Once he had put the sphere down and marked its location with some rubber bands that had been used to hold two of his presents together, he had read the small note underneath in a handwriting he did not recognize:

_Scott,  
Use this Disasphere wisely when charting through Hogwarts._

_Happy Birthday_

Back in the present, Scott held the Disasphere in his hand and crossed back over to his suitcase at the end of the bed, wrapping it inside a pair of socks. He put it into a zip pocket, careful to remember where it was. Now he felt he was ready.

Suddenly two owls flew in though the window Scott had left ajar. One was Scott's barn owl, named Mirage, who hooted happily to be out of his cage. The other was a Great Horned Owl, who flew over Scott's bed and dropped an envelope, making a short landing on Scott's bed because of the amount of limited space in his room. After Scott made a thankful nod to the owl, it turned around and departed, leaving Scott in the company of Mirage to read his letter.

_Dear Mr. Duncanson,_

_As arranged by the Ministry of Magic, from the Department of Magical Transportation, for your third year of study at Hogwarts, a Portkey has been arranged to take you directly to the outside of the barrier of Plaform 9 ¾. This year however, in addition of being accompanied by the usual Ministry official from said department, an Auror will escort the both of you to the Portkey. This change in procedure is because of new security measures enacted by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Your ministry official will inform you of the identification of the Portkey on or after his arrival on today's date at precisely midday. Please make note of this and ensure you are ready for travel by this date.  
_

_Reguards,_

_Helga Runesworth_

_Department of Magical Transportation_

Scott looked at the time on his mobile: 12:50. Ten minutes to spare. "Okay Mirage, I hope you had a good flight, because it will be the last for a little while, okay? Hop into your cage now."

Mirage fluffed his feathers as if stretching himself, before walking across the desk and into his cage. Scott closed the door behind him and gave him an affectionate scratch with his index finger behind Mirage's ear (which the owl replied with an equal affectionate clamp of his beak), before he lifted his cage up and pulled his suitcase on wheels behind him, opening his door out into the corridor.

His father, Roy, was in the kitchen. "Hey Scott." he said. "So… off for the year, then?" he asked tersely.

"Yeah." Scott said awkwardly. His father was always like this about him being a wizard; he didn't see how being magical could give someone a proper career, and Scott knew why. His father was raised on a farm, and he always believed in hard work and the sweat of a man's brow. Scott felt estranged enough when his father disapproved of him playing video games; it had been a momentary relief he had gotten over it, only to find out later on he was a wizard. Productivity always seemed important to him and magic to him seemed childish and foolish, but there were times his dad would act silly when he was in a good mood and younger than his age. But since his dad, like the rest of his family, was a Muggle, he never seemed to act that way around him anymore.

"Mum and Zara already said bye to me last night." He added, thinking of his mother and sister. "Where's Phoebe."

"She's here." Dad said. "On the computer, I think." He added. Scott nodded; it was a Sunday, and there wasn't much else to do on the weekend.

There was a knock at the door, and Scott turned to answer it. "That'll be them." Scott said. "See you next year, have a good holidays."  
"Bye." His dad said, not saying anything else.

Scott stepped towards the corridor, which lead to the door, carting his suitcase and Mirage's cage behind him. As he opened the door to see who it was, an elderly wizard in strangely worn Muggle clothing appeared, with a younger witch standing behind him. From her more serious, sterner appearance and more casual appearance in Muggle clothing, Scott guessed she was the Auror sent to look after them.

"Hello, hello! Good to see you again, Scott!" the elderly wizard said joyfully. "Mind if I come in?"

"Hi Zasamel. Actuallly…" Scott said to the Ministry official he had last year, Zasamel Grenway, who was quite a friendly but odd sort of wizard. Scott was hesitant to let him in his house again. Last year when he had come into the house to meet his parents, he was distracted by the gadgets they had in their kitchen, namely a shiny new milkshake maker they had gotten the following Christmas, and in an unasked request to use magic to make them all milkshakes with his wand, made an awful mess that splattered across the entire kitchen; and to make things worse, because of the Trace, the Ministry had sent an owl to expel Scott for underage magic, knowing someone had used it at his residence and with Scott being the only registered wizard at the residence. Zasamel had to appear with Scott on the exact same day to appeal to the Wiengamot that it was a mistake, and his charge was dropped. Scott was afraid Zasamel would get carried away again in his fascination of the Muggle world and try something just as bad incidentally, or worse – he did not want to explain to his friends why he had missed the feast yet again.

Zasamel stepped in past Scott and strode into the kitchen, where Scott's dad eyed the strangely dressed elderly man with a mixture of fascination and fear. "Zasamel, was it?" Roy asked.

"Yes, how do you do?" Zasamel smiled over his moon-shaped glasses, shaking his hand. "I'm just so ever intrigued by the Muggle objects you use. Can I take a quick look?"

"I don't… Roy said, but Zasamel already stepped past him. Roy cast Scott a look, and said, "Could you get him out, please?" in a quieter tone.

Scott nodded and followed Grenway. Already the man was watching the big-screen TV in their living room, marveled by it. "Amazing! So Muggles have gotten the hang of creating moving pictures! What kind of photograph is this meant to be?"

"It's just a TV." Scott explained briefly. "C'mon, Zasamel."

"And this," Zasamel added, looking at what Scott realized now was his sister, Phoebe, on the internet of their new computer. "…must be your sister Phoebe, who you've only once mentioned. My dear, what are you doing? What is that? 'Myspace'? What is Yourspace exactly?"

"It's the internet." Scott tried explaining again, getting strange looks from his sister.

"Zasamel, we best be going, or Scott will be late for the Hogwarts Express." The auror's voice called, as she appeared from the kitchen.  
"Ah, yes, quite true Dromeda. Thanks for reminding me. I am getting a little carried away." Zasamel nodded. "We best be off… although I do wish I could take more time studying these Muggle items in action…"  
Scott and the Auror guided Zasamel back through the kitchen and out the front door, Scott calling out 'Bye!' as he left from the front door, while on the way reminding Zasamel not to try to open the doors to the car parked in the driveway.

"Righto lad! Let's go find the Portkey! It's in a park to the south of here." The wizard left the way, with Scott trailing with the Auror.  
"Thanks for that." Scott said.

The young witch grinned. "No problem. My name is Dromeda. Dromeda Corvin."

"I'd tell you my name, but you already know that." Scott joked. He suddenly remembered the letter he had received. "Dromeda, why is the Ministry increasing defense for just us students?" he asked curiously.  
"I'm not at liberty to say." Dromeda said, her long blonde hair flicking across her shoulders as she shook her head. "All I can tell you is that security has been tightened for a reason, and the Minister of Magic has his reasons."

Scott nodded. He talked with Dromeda, trying to find out more, but Dromeda pulled Zasamel back and seemed to try talking to him about complicated Ministry issues Scott couldn't understand. Mirage hooted in acknowledgement, as if agreeing with Scott something was strange about the whole thing.

They reached the park, and Zasamel instructed them all to hook elbows as he bent down, obscured by the trees around them, to pick up a empty yogurt cup; Scott started to feel the familiar sensation of an invisible hook from inside his belly pulling him through nothingness, until at last, the group appeared inside a empty sitting room at the King's Cross train station in London, and let go of each other.

"Ah, good, the other group has already arrived." Zassamel noticed, upon spying an empty paper cup on the ground. "I believe Miss Mayo is already here."

Scott couldn't help but smile; glad one of his closest friends from back home was here.

"This is where we part ways." Zasamel sighed. "Until next year, Scott. Pleasant travels and a happy year to you. Pleasure to work with you, Ms. Corvin."

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Grenway. See you in the Ministry." Dromeda smiled, and Zasamel turned around on the spot, and Apparated. It was then Scott noticed a man who was standing guard at the door.

"All clear, Joe." Dromeda said to the black-haired man, who uncrossed his arms as the witch opened the door.

"Dromeda." The man acknowledged. "Good. And you are Scott?" he addressed him.

"Yeah." Scott said awkwardly. "Nice to meet you. Are you an Auror, too?"

"Yes." The man said. "I'm Joe Cryal. But no time for pleasantries, I believe your train is scheduled to depart soon. We'll be accompanying you on board." He said warmly, moving forward towards the barrier of Platform 9 ¾. Scott looked curious but followed, now pushing a loaned trolley with his suitcase and Mirage's owl cage on top of it, making sure no-one was watching them as they moved through the trick barrier between platforms nine and ten. Passing through the wall he saw the crimson Hogwart's Express, now churning steam over the boarding passengers and their families.

Scott looked up the platform to see if he could recognize anyone; a whistle came from the Hogwarts Express, and Cryal and Dromeda boarded the train, Scott unloading his trolley and dragging his trunk and cage behind him, with a little assistance from Dromeda. The Hogwarts Express began to move from the platform and Scott moved down the corridor away from the Aurors as they went into their compartment, until he spotted Leahna Mayo, one of his friends, chatting with some of her friends.

She had long brown hair and green eyes, but would seem to magically change different shades of color whenever Scott looked into them, even though it must have been a trick of the light. She was heaps shorter than him, and had an average build. She wore Muggle clothing, a hooded top with jeans and black converse shoes. She was quite attractive, but not to the point where she would boast about it. She was in Gryffindor with Scott, and on the rare occasion, they studied together in the Gryffindor commonroom – or at least tried, when they weren't talking about their common interests or laughing at their jokes.

"Hey, Larnie." he called to get her attention, calling her by the nickname she liked to be called. "Want to try and find a compartment?"

Larnie turned to look at him, her eyes doing the pretty color trick, and slightly shook her head. "Hey. I can't, I'm going with my friends to our compartment." Her friends gave him a single look and a smile of recognition, before they turned away to walk up the corridor, their conversation broken by his interruption. "I have to go. Bye." she said brightly, and turned and walked away with her belongings.

"Right." Scott said, and sighed under his breath. He felt a strange twinge of annoyance as she walked away, watching for a moment her long brown hair dancing behind her. He had become so caught up with the idea of hearing she had arrived, so that he could talk with her about why Aurors had needed to accompany them on their Portkey trip, he had forgotten she had friends of her own. He fought the bitter sting of rejection and went to look for someone else he could talk to.

"Hey, Scott!" he heard a voice, and turned around to see a boy walking towards him.

"Hey, James." Scott said with some small relief. "Want to find a compartment?"

"Sure." James said. "I haven't found one myself yet."

James Matthews had short wavy brown hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers. Unlike Scott and Leahna, who were Australian, James was English and so didn't have to travel so far a distance to get to King's Cross station as he did. Scott had known James as long as he had known Leahna, since the first year, and even though Scott was in Gryffindor and James in Ravenclaw, they got on well as friends.

They found a compartment and stowed away their belongings; James's owl, a Eurasian Eagle Owl called Striker, hooted as James placed him carefully on the floor next to Mirage's cage.

"They look happy to see each other again mate." James noted, as Mirage and Striker faced each other and hooted in unison.

"They'll be even happier once they get out of their cages." Scott grinned, and leant forward in his seat. "So James, have you heard about the tightened security the Ministry has placed?"

"Yeah, I saw the Aurors with you." James said. "What was all that about?"

Scott told James about the Auror that had escorted them from his home.

"All the way down in Australia?" James said surprise. "A bit much, hey?"

"Yeah, I agree." Scott nodded. "I wonder why all the extra security, though? It's a bit weird…"

The compartment door they had closed behind them slid open, and Scott looked up in surprise to see Leahna enter. Behind her, two girls looked in.

"Hey." Scott greeted Leahna again. "I thought you were going to sit with your friends?"

"Yeah," Leahna shrugged, "I wanted to go in there, but they brought some of their friends, so there wasn't enough room. I can talk to them anytime. Plus it's a bit quieter in here. Oh and Scott, guess what. I heard Natz and Jemma talking about Lost, the TV show, they're fans too."

"Hey cool." Scott smiled, and looked to the mentioned girls looking into the compartment. "Hey Natz, Jemma. Come in."

"Hello Scott." Natz smiled, looking towards James. "I'm Natalie, but my friends call me Natz."

"Hi." Jemma waved. "Jemma." She simply stated her name as James looked at her.

Natz and Jemma were at the same age and height, which was understandable, considering they were unidentical twins. Natz had light chestnut brown hair, which was streaked throughout with brown and blondish hair, which grew down to shoulder length, and brown eyes. Jemma had darker shoulder-length brown hair, which she was wearing at the moment in a ponytail, with a fringe over her forehead, and brown eyes. They were also wearing Muggle clothing, assorted tops and t-shirts with jeans and sneakers. Scott had known the twins since his second year, Natz more frequently since she was with Gryffindor, with Jemma in Ravenclaw.

"Nice pair of hooters." Larnie joked, mentioning the two owls in their cages. The joke seemed to break the ice, and everyone laughed a little, as Leahna, Natz and Jemma put their trunks away in the overhead compartments; they left their cat carriers on the floor away from the owls, where their cats remained concealed inside.

Soon the group started talking about the TV show Lost, swapping ideas and what was going to happen next season, until the conversation died down. Scott thought this was a good time to bring up the subject about the Aurors.  
"So I was saying to James before you girls came in, it's a bit weird how the Ministry of Magic has tightened security, isn't it?" he asked, and looked at Leahna. "Larnie, you had an Auror accompany you too, didn't you?"

"Yeah." she said. "He was pretty strict and didn't talk much. He wouldn't tell me anything."  
"Me neither, except that it's for a good reason and the Minister of Magic had a reason." Scott told everyone.

"Maybe something happened, like a student got attacked?" Jemma spoke up.

"Or maybe someone's on the run from the Aurors?" Natz wondered. "Someone could have escaped from Azkaban."

"Could be." James said. "But I dunno, they have the Dementors guarding the prison don't they?"

"What's a Dementor?" Jemma asked.

"It's some type of magical creature, like a ghost, that sucks all the happy feelings out of a person and leaves them in sorrow. While they're in a state of misery, they try to steal their soul. That's what's known as a Dementor's kiss." Leahna informed her.

"Ewww." Natz said.

"Anyway, it's what's keeping the prisoners in Azkaban. It leaves the prisoners feeling like they have no chance to escape." Leahna finished.

"And they're supposed to make the atmosphere around them cold, like they are." Scott added.

"Actually, do you guys think it's gotten colder?" James asked, looking out the window.

"Don't say things like that." Leahna smirked. "There's no way Dementors could be out here."

"But I'm serious." James said, still looking out the window. "And it's gotten darker, too."

Scott stood up and moved towards the window, Leahna stepping beside him, the others looking out the window past them. It had become quickly overcast with dark clouds, and it was meant to be a sunny day. The corner of the window began to quickly frost up, followed by the edges of the window.

"You're joking…" James said.

Suddenly the train came to a sudden halt, and everybody suddenly was flung over to one side of the compartment, the owls and cats in their containers letting out shrieks and mews. Once everyone was on their feet again, there was only silence.

"What happened?" Natz spoke up first.

"It might be Dementors." James said again.

"We don't know that for sure." Jemma said.

Leahna got out her wand and spoke the words, "_Lumos._" The tip of her wand lit up, helping them all to see.

"_Lumos._" Scott chanted as well, after getting out his wand. He followed her out of the compartment, while James, Natz and Jemma reached for their cases to get out their wands.

In the distance, there was a scream, putting everyone on alert. Leahna pulled open the door and stepped into the corridor, and as soon as she turned the corridor, she let out a small shriek in surprise. Scott quickly stepped behind her and gasped.

There in the corridor was the very creature they had been talking about; a humanoid figure, ten feet in height, and covered by a dark black cloak, except for the hands which were grey and decaying.

"_Incend-" _she began to say, but almost immediately the Dementor was in front of her, revealing it's repulsive face with no eyes and a large hole where the mouth should be, and began sucking out her soul, life draining out of her face. Scott reacted immedately, finishing off the spell Leahna was meant to finish, calling out "_Incendio!_"

Fire burst out of is wand at the Dementor, driving it back and releasing its hold on Leahna. It swooped forward and knocked Scott over, making him drop his wand. He reached around for it, but already the Dementor was on him, attempting to do the same soul-sucking it had done to Leahna. Looking up, Scott could see Leahna reaching for Scott's wand; Natz and Jemma screamed in surprise at the Dementor. James had his wand out and leveled it at the Dementor attacking Scott when a second one swooped in from the other end and attacked him. Scott couldn't see much else, as the Dementor continued to suck out his soul with its mouth-like hole. He hoped Leahna was okay and wondering when she was going to help him, when suddenly a strong voice called out.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"


	3. Chapter 3: The New Professors

Scott couldn't see much else, as the Dementor continued to suck out his soul with its mouth-like hole. He hoped Leahna was okay and wondering when she was going to help him, when suddenly a strong voice called out.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Dromeda appeared, her wand leveled out in front of her. Before her danced her Patronus Charm she had cast, which took on the animal form of a grizzly bear. The Dementors made an inhuman shriek, which was repeated twofold as Cryal approached them with his Patronus Charm, a lion roaring with unison with the waves of light emitting from its body. The Dementors increased their inhuman shrieks as they were flung out the window into the cold night.

"Is that the last of them?" Cryal asked Dromeda, dispelling his Patronus.

"Yeah, I think so." Dromeda said, dispelling hers.

"Let's not think, Dromeda. Let's know that they are gone for certain. There's a reason they attacked the train, so I wouldn't leave it past them that they'll follow us to Hogwarts." Cryal said, and stepped past a few Slytherin students that were sniggering at Scott and Leahna on the floor.

"Yeah, we're fine, don't worry about us or anything." Scott said in a voice only Leahna could hear as he recovered, and she smiled at him.  
"I saw that." Dromeda said quickly, looking at Scott, and Scott almost thought for half a second that the Auror was about to tell them off for being humorous. "Nice flame spell, Scott, and your Stupefy spell was good too, Leahna." She said as she looked at her. "Too bad for the both of you that only an Patronus Charm can repel the Dementors. Other than that, it was quick thinking, I think you'd make good Aurors."

The Slytherin students laughed as if the idea was a ridiculous one.

"Come along now children, back to your cabins." Dromeda replied, and ushered away the students behind her as she walked to catch up with Cryal.

"Are you okay?" Leahna asked Scott as everyone left, handing him back his wand.

"Yeah, are you?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"You cast a Stupefy spell?" Scott asked in surprise.

"Yeah, right in the back of the Dementor's head as it was feeding on you. It didn't even affect it. I guess it's because it doesn't have a soul."

"Thanks for that. For trying to help me, anyway."

"No worries." She smiled.

Scott stood up, and saw Natz and Jemma were helping James to his feet. "You alright guys?" he asked.

"Yeah, how about you?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright. But speak of the devil, huh?" James said.

"Shhh! Don't jinx it." Natz spoke quietly. "They might come back."  
"I don't think they came in the first place because we were talking about them." Jemma laughed.

"Yeah, but what did they come for?" Scott wondered.  
No-one seemed to have an answer to his question. As they settled back into their compartments and felt the train moving again, they discussed the reason Dementors were present, and only one reason they could think of came to mind. There had to be a prisoner on the loose from Azkaban, and the Ministry had sent the Dementors out to recapture them. Scott shivered slightly in his seat, partially because it felt eerie that the prisoner could be aboard the train, hiding or disguised as anyone, and that meant his or her destination would be Hogwarts itself, or maybe they were targeting a student on the train. And partially, as Scott kept being reminded, that the dark overcast weather and the frost from the window first brought by the Dementors had not removed themselves. Scott had felt his worst fears come to life when the Dementors had attacked him and attempted to suck out his soul, having experienced what felt like the worst kind of loneliness he had ever experienced in his life, and wasn't particularly keen on ever feeling that way ever again.

Eventually the Hogwarts Express reached the station, and everyone filed out of their compartments onto the platform. Scott watched as the prefects gathered the first years for their introductory trip in the boats across the lake, and couldn't help but notice the Aurors spread across the platform, keeping a close eye on everything.

As usual, they walked down the path towards the empty carriages that magically pulled themselves, and their group stayed together as they boarded the next available carriage. As there was space for six, a sixth student had joined them. It was a fellow Gryffindor third-yeah called Nick MacDonald, who last year had played on the Quiddich team with Scott and Leahna.

"Hey guys." He said in an Irish accent to everyone, mostly to Scott and Leahna as they sat closest to him. "I just heard from Jack Kade that he's replaced Katrina Goldsmith as the new Quiddich captain."  
"Well yeah obviously, she finished last year." Leahna said, as the carriage took off down the path.

"Yeah, she was a great Seeker. But Jack is just as good a Keeper, we'll do great with him on our team." Nick said.

"If we don't finish in second again to Slytherin like we did last year." Scott reminded them.

"Yeah, but their Seeker has gone too, so it's a whole new game." Nick said. "Are you guys going to tryouts?"

"Yeah." Leahna nodded. "I'm going to try for Seeker again."

"I'm going to try for Beater again, too." Scott agreed.

"Me too." Nick said. "Well, good luck to you guys, looks like we're here. See you on the Quiddich pitch."

The carriage pulled up to the doors, and the group dismounted, heading into the Great Hall where their house tables had been lined up. Noticing they had to line up to get in, Scott looked ahead and saw the caretaker, an old Squib man called Argus Filch, was holding a Secrecy Sensor up against each student as they walked through the doors, one by one. Scott felt confident that his Disasphere wouldn't be detected, as his own Sneakoscope didn't go off when it was around. Natz and Leahna went before him, and as Filch passed the Secrecy Sensor over him, it also didn't go off. Filch grumbled, unhappy he hadn't caught any student out yet. Relieved to have passed without having been caught out, Scott, Natz and Leahna said bye to James and Jemma as they departed for the Ravenclaw table, and the three of them went to sit down at an empty space at Gryffindor. They said their hellos to their fellow Gryffindors, before the prefects lead the first years into the Hall; it was time for the Sorting Hat ceremony. The teachers now having arrived. everyone turned their attention to the headmistress, Professor McGonagall, who was speaking up.

"Attention please, students." She said. "The Sorting Hat ceremony will now begin. Prefects, arrange the first years into a line and send them up one at a time; first years, the Sorting Hat ceremony involves you sitting down in the chair in front of you, and allowing the Sorting Hat to be placed atop of your heads. The Sorting Hat has the wisdom of generations of headmasters past, and will determine which house you will be sorted in throughout the remainder of your stay here at Hogwarts. I wish you a pleasant and productive time with us."

With a wave of her wand, the Sorting Hat came flying out of a corridor from the direction of the Headmaster's office and landed on the large chair facing the four house tables. One by one, each first year came up as their names were called and had the Sorting Hat placed on their heads. Then the hat would come to life, holes opening up in the pointed cone to form eyes and ears, and spook every first year by yelling out which house they were in. Each time the hat announced which house that person would be in, the respective table cheered them as they came to join them at their table. Scott, Leahna and Natz all politely clapped each time a Gryffindor was named. There were a few Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Slytherins as well, and when the last person was done, Professor McGonagall waved her wand, and a great platter of food appeared on the tables before them, and the noise level of chattering students rose up again. Scott couldn't help but notice some of the Slytherin students were looking over at him, laughing and pretending to go limp on the table, reenacting to the other Slytherin students about seeing Scott and Leahna on the floor after the Dementor attack.

"Just ignore them." Leahna said as she noticed them too, reaching over to the platter in front of her and selecting some crackers.

"Yeah." Scott replied, and took some crackers too, followed by some seasoned chicken.

"Has anyone noticed there's a new Transfiguration teacher?" Natz said, who was looking up at the tables as she was serving roast vegetables onto her plate.

Scott took a bite from a drumstick and looked up; sure enough, Professor Farfin had been replaced by a more elderly witch, with long chestnut brown hair and pale blue eyes.

"What do you think happened to Farfin?" Scott wondered.

"We'll find out soon enough." Leahna said. "McGonagall will probably make a speech after desert."

Sure enough, after the main course had ended and the bowls from the vanilla sundaes made for desert were made empty, McGonagall waved her wand and the dirty dishes disappeared, and she cleared her throat.  
"Now you have all been fed and watered, I have a few announcements to make about our situation at Hogwarts this year." She spoke once she had silenced everyone. "I'm sure all of you are aware of the Dementor attack that happened on the Hogwarts Express this evening. I can assure you the students that were attacked are completely fine and no-one was seriously hurt or had their souls stolen. I have been informed by the Ministry that the presence of the Dementors around the train had been an accident and they had gotten loose from Auror handling. The reason for them being here I have been told, is because there has been a prisoner that has escaped from Azkaban and is believed to be hiding as a fugitive in the local area."

There was an uproar of voices as several people began talking at once.

"Silence, please! I am not finished!" she called, and silence returned. "Now, there is nothing to worry about, you are all quite safe. The school has been given the highest protection by the Ministry, both from the prisoner and the Dementors. As a result of the Dementor presence around the school grounds, students are to remain indoors, excursions to Hogsmeade have been cancelled until further notice, and as always no student is allowed outside their dormitories after curfew hours. Any student who breaks these laws will be accordingly punished, as well as have points deducted from their house."

During her conversation, more voices had risen up in protest.  
"Go on, I can wait all night for all of you to be quiet." McGonagall said. Everyone fell into silence.  
"Good. Now, before I send you off to your dormitories for the night, I would like to introduce you to our newest teachers. Replacing Professor Farfin who has left us for maternity leave is Professor Eda Rosewater."

The elderly witch Natz first spotted before made a smile and a wave to the students.

"And replacing Professor Eldora who left us last year to pursue a different career path is Professor Miles Hebel."

A short, rounded brown-bearded wizard made a polite wave to the audience. In appearance he reminded Scott of a tough-looking Santa Claus.

"And one last word of advice to you all to leave you with," McGonagall announced, "…from a previous headmaster and a close associate of mine: 'Do not give the Dementors any reason to attack you.' That is all. Prefects, gather the first years and lead them to their dormitories. I suggest you all get some sleep for classes tomorrow. Good night to you all."

Scott, Leahna and Natz got up together, and walked past the Gryffindor prefects who were herding the first years together. Wanting to get up to the Gryffindor tower before they did, they walked quickly down the corridor that would eventually lead them to the Gryffindor common room.

"So there is a prisoner that escaped from Azkaban." Natz said, as soon as they were clear from the Great Hall.

"Hmm, yeah." Leahna said in thought. "The Forbidden Forest outside the school would be a good place to hide because it's so dangerous."

"I think maybe the prisoner returned here because they have a previous history with Hogwarts." Scott guessed. "Maybe they were a student here, or even a teacher."

"Yeah, could be." Leahna agreed, then stopped in mid-step. "Wait, does anyone know the password to get past the Fat Lady?"

"No…" Scott paused, realizing what she meant. Only the Prefects had the password, hat would get them past the living portrait of the Fat Lady that guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, and they were still coming with the first-year students.

"I thought you guys knew…" Natz shrugged.  
"Let's keep going anyway." Leahna decided. "There's probably other Gryffindors lining up at the portrait-hole, we should try to get a good spot."

"Yeah." Scott agreed, and Natz nodded in unison, and they kept walking.

They arrived at the portrait hole, other Gryffindor students had already began to line up to get in, just as Leahna had predicted.

"At least our bags have already been brought up from the train." Scott said positively as Leahna sighed impatiently, and Natz leant up against the wall.

"Yeah." Leahna agreed. "And at least we won't be attacked by Dementors again."

"I hope they catch that prisoner soon, those Dementors give me the creeps." Natz said thoughtfully. "And it almost got James, too."

"Let the Aurors and the Ministry sort it out. We've - "

Scott stopped completing his sentance when the prefects and first years came around the corner. "Is there anyone here who's not from Gryffindor?" a prefect asked.

Everyone in front of the portrait holes shook their heads.

"Good. The password is lasagna."

"Correct." The fat lady in the portrait said and swung forward, revealing the portrait hole behind her. Once Scott, Leahna and Natz had gotten inside, and he was sure no-one was overhearing them, Scott continued with his thought.

"…We've got more important things to worry about, like the optional subjects we have to take this year. I think I've decided already what I'm going to do."

"Yeah." Leahna said. "I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do, too."

"I'm not too sure yet, but I think I'll figure it out." Natz admitted.

They stopped at the stairs leading up to the girl's and boy's dormitories. "Well, we better be going Larnie. Bye." She said to Scott.  
"Yeah, I'm going to bed. Night." Leahna said to Scott.

"Bye Natz, night Larnie." Scott waved them off, then he headed up to the boy's dormitories. It had been a relief to get to his room; since the first year, the castle had been magically redesigned so students could be assigned to a single room each. As soon as he reached his room with his name on the door, Scott opened it to find Mirage, who was already out of his cage and was perched on the windowsill. He hooted and took off, as if he was waiting to say goodnight to Scott before he went out on his midnight hunt.

Scott watched as Mirage faded into the night, glad to know the fact that Dementors didn't suck the souls out of animals and that Mirage would be okay. Just to be safe, he closed the window, knowing Mirage would rap on the glass with his talons if he wished to come back during the night. With a yawn and his eyes feeling heavy, Scott changed into his usual sleeping clothes, a large t-shirt and boxers, and climbed into bed, falling into a deep sleep.

A/N: Sorry that not much happened in this chapter, I wanted to introduce and set the scenery for any new readers out there. More exciting stuff to come! Please review!


	4. Chapter 4: Mudbloods

With a yawn and his eyes feeling heavy, Scott changed into his usual sleeping clothes, a large t-shirt and boxers, and climbed into bed, falling into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Scott got dressed in school robes and walked down to the Gryffindor common room, where the girls were waiting for him. Leahna's tabby cat, Enzo, was already sitting at her feet, and Natz's cat, a long-haired black and white cat called Aslan, was walking long the seat of the sofa Natz was sitting on.

"Morning. Ready for breakfast?" Scott asked.

"Hey. Yeah." Leahna said tiredly. "I can't stay with you guys long. I'm going to go see my friends first."

"Yeah, same." Natz said.

"Fair enough." Scott said, not wanting to bring up the subject he didn't have many of his own friends to go to, making him feel slightly uneasy. "Let's go." he quickly said.

They left the cats behind and stepped through the portrait hole, only to find a crowd of Gryffindors standing around the corner. They turned to have a look at what was drawing the crowd, and on the wall written in sparkling writing, were the words:

THE DEMENTORS ARE HERE

BUT I AM ALREADY INSIDE THE WALLS

GET OUT OR MUDBLOODS WILL BE NEXT.

There were a lot of murmurs and hushed whispers from the students as Scott read the message. "Someone wrote this with the _Flagrate_ spell."

"Yeah, obviously." Leahna said.

"Alright, Gryffindors, time to leave. Nothing to see here." came the voice of Professor McGonagall, who appeared from the corridor with the Auror Dromeda. "Downstairs to the Great Hall, please, I will be handing out timetables. Third years and sixth years, I expect you to see me before going to class, or I will not enroll you for your optional classes." She began shooing Gryffindors away from the wall.

"Dromeda, any idea who wrote that?" Scott asked, as the witch passed them.

"It's just some prank some student has tried to pull." Dromeda told him. "You should be going down to breakfast." She turned away to help McGonagall usher away some first years with her down the corridor.

"It's too serious to be a prank, don't you think?" Scott said as he turned away with Leahna and Natz, as they headed down a shortcut to the Great Hall.

"I don't know. It could have been anyone." Leahna shrugged.

"You don't think it was actually the prisoner, do you Scott?" Natz asked.

"No, I'm not saying that." Scott said as they descended the marble steps. "If it was meant to be a joke, they weren't taking it lightly, joking about a real prisoner or using the word mudblood like that. Besides, you don't have anything to worry about Natz. Me and Leahna don't have wizarding parents, but you do."

"Yeah, but we should all be careful anyway." Leahna said thoughtfully. "Hmm, it might have been somebody from Slytherin if they were using the word mudblood, there are never any mudbloods in their house."

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was. That would explain why it was near the Gryffindor commonroom." Scott said.

"Yeah who knows?" Natz said. "I hope it's not the Azkaban prisoner though. Hopefully that's the last we'll hear about it."

They descended the stairs into the Great Hall; the enchanted ceiling above them was a stormy cloud grey. They picked a spot at the Gryffindor table before parting ways.

"Hey, is it okay if I left my textbooks here with you?" Leahna asked Scott, grabbing a bite of toast.

"Yeah, sure." Scott agreed. "Want me to get you a timetable?"

"Yes please. Thanks, bye." Leahna said, leaving behind her text books for Scott to look after.

"Can you do the same for me please, Scott?" Natz asked.

"Yeah, sure." Scott said casually, although at the moment he was starting to feel like a pack horse. "Go on, off you go." he dismissed Natz, before he got annoyed at the thought.

"See you in a bit." Natz said, heading in the direction of the Ravenclaw table.

"Hey Scott." Scott heard James's voice, and James walked over to where Scott was sitting, getting a few curious looks from some fellow Gryffindors down the table.

"Hey James. What's up?"

"Did you hear about the message up in the Ravenclaw tower?" James asked.

"There was a written message up in the Ravenclaw tower, too?" Scott said incredulously.

"Eh, what do you mean, 'too'?" James inquired curiously.

Scott explained to him about the message up in the Gryffindor tower he and the girls had seen that morning.

"That's weird." James answered. "It said the same thing up in the Ravenclaw tower."

"So it's already spread to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw…" Scott said to James in thought.

"Probably just someone's idea of a joke, mate." James said. "Anyway, have you picked your classes yet?"

"Not yet." Scott said. "But I've already got in mind what I want to do. You?"

"Yeah I have. I'm thinking of doing Arithmancy, since it's got to do with the magical properties of numbers, and I'm good with maths."

"At least you are. Magical properties of numbers?" Scott repeated. "What, like 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42…?"

James laughed. "Yeah, maybe they'll have the 'cursed' numbers from _Lost_." James said. "Anyway, better go – looks like the teachers are handing out the timetables. See you later."

"Yeah, see you." Scott waved, and noticed Leahna and Natz were coming back over from seeing their friends. Natz stopped to strike up a quick inaudible conversation with James, just as Professor McGonagall appeared and with a flick of her wand, sent timetables to all the Gryffindors seated at the table.

"Professor, could I please have two more copies for my friends, please?" Scott called.

"They're just coming to sit down."

"Certainly, Mr. Duncanson." McGonagall said, "But I would remind your friends that this morning is hardly the proper time to be socializing." She whisked two copies of timetables Scott's way.

"Thanks." Leahna said, as she returned and sat down, taking a timetable from Scott as he passed it to her.

"No problem." Scott smiled.

"Guess what, I heard from my friends in Hufflepuff that they got a message near their common room as well."

"Yeah, I just heard from James that the Ravenclaws got a message as well." Scott said. "Someone is sure making a big effort to spread the message across the school."

"It's the same with the Slytherins as well." Natz said, sitting down on the other side of Natz, and thanked Scott when he passed her a timetable. "My friend said she overheard the Slytherins talking about it. So it's not the Slytherins doing it."

"It might be someone acting alone." Scott said. "And whoever it was, they managed to get around the corridors at night without being detected."

"How do you figure that?" Leahna asked him, as she poured herself some orange juice.

"How else would they have got that message up? It wasn't there last night. Pass the OJ, please."

"Maybe." Leahna said, passing Scott the OJ. "You haven't been using your Disasphere, have you Scott?" she said in a low voice, grinning jokingly.

"Oh yeah, that makes sense." Scott said humorously in an equally low voice, a smile finally appearing on his face. "I bring that up, and I'm the one with the Disasphere. Smar of me. Yeah sure, I'm writing messages to spook people so I can have Hogwarts to share with an Azkaban prisoner, and thousands of Dementors. I'm pure evil."

"Yeah," Leahna laughed, "It was you. You're just trying to cast suspicion off yourself!"

"We Mudbloods are an annoying lot." Scott admitted mockingly, and laughed too.

With a whoosh and a clatter, hundreds of owls suddenly came soaring in through the upper windows. They descended all over the hall, bringing letters and packages to their owners. They also showered the students with droplets of rainwater from their wings; it was clear that it was raining outside.

Scott didn't see Mirage among them; but that was understandable, since Scott didn't have any correspondents outside Hogwarts. An owl dropped two copies of newspapers; one of _The Daily Prophet _in front of Leahna, and the other of _The Quibbler_. She picked up _The Prophet_ first and began to unwrap it.

"You're still getting the newspapers, huh?" Scott asked.

"I can afford it." Leahna said. "Besides, it might give us an insight to what's going on with our Azkaban prisoner."

Sure enough, on the front cover read:

ROSEWATER DENIES DEMENTOR CONSPIRACY

Below the title was the picture of the new Transfiguration teacher, except with a few lines of age missing from her face, cuffed in chains and shouldered on each side by a wizard and witch that looked like Aurors. Leahna began to read it aloud:

_This semester at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been turned on it's head yet again by the presence of Dementors from Azkaban, said to be orchestrated by the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement in a country-wide man-hunt. But before the semester has even started, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall, has brought into her staff a former Azkaban prisoner, Eda Rosewater. Rosewater was tried and found guilty eleven years ago for assault and use of magic in front of Muggles, to which she was sentenced ten years. She was released last year, despite her attempt to break free from her cell two years into her sentence._

"_Eda is a renowned tutor in Transfiguration and a valued associate of mine." commented Professor McGonagall in an interview during Rosewater's release less than a year ago. "She has been cleared of all suspicion of being a threat to both the public and herself, and I would be delighted to have her talents to teach at Hogwarts to future generations to further redeem herself, having already served her time. She knows the consequences of taking her job and she is under careful surveillance."_

_Rosewater also spoke on her behalf last year. "She (McGonagall) made it very clear to me I am hanging by a thread," she spoke, "And I am very grateful to her that she has given me this position. I am looking forward to teaching the students, and I am sure that all of you concerned parents out there will be looking at me carefully, too."_

_Despite her Azkaban history, the Ministry of Magic have denied her involvement with the Dementor movement, informing that they have gotten a fresh lead on another wanted witch that evaded authorities for many years and was presumed dead until recently. The identity of this witch and her profile, however, are deemed classified. More of a report on the Dementor activity on page 7…"_

"So Professor Rosewater has been the prisoner all along?" Natz said.

"Not the prisoner the Dementors are after." Leahna said. "They wouldn't send Dementors after a prisoner they've already let go." She unwrapped and unfolded the _Quibbler._

"What does the Quibbler say?" Scott asked.

"_Dementor Manhunt: The Conspiracy between the Ministry, the 'so-called' fugitive and mind-control…"_

"Haha, how random." Natz giggled.

"Still, it's a co-incidence." Scott said, and suddenly had a thought. "It would explain why the author of all those messages was able to move around at night. McGonagall wouldn't suspect one of her own teachers."

"Yeah, maybe. It's too early to be guessing anything yet." Leahna said. "Speaking of McGonagall, we should go let her know about our optional subjects before we have class."

Having finished breakfast, they got up and joined the line of third year and sixth year Gryffindors lining up in front of the headmaster's table. After a while of waiting in line discussing what subjects they were going to do, and the girls having their friends come to visit them, Leahna was first in line to see McGonagall.

"What have you decided to do, Miss Mayo?" McGonagall asked.

"Care of Magical Creatures, and Divination." Leahna said, handing McGonagall her timetable.

McGonagall filled in her timetable and nodded. "You'll be in Firenze's class for Divination. I hope to see you make the team for Gryffindor again this year."  
"Thanks." Leahna said, and moved away.

Natz was next. "Divination and Care of Magical Creatures, please."

"You'll be in Professor Trelawney's class, my dear." McGonagall said with some hesitance. "I heard from Professor Farfin that you were one of the few exceptional people in her class; best of luck with Professor Rosewater this year."  
"Thank you." Natz said politely, and moved off.

"Duncanson, what have you decided upon?" McGonagall asked as he approached the table.

"Care of Magical Creatures, and Ancient Runes, please." Scott said, as McGonagall took his timetable to fill out.

"Ancient Runes?" questioned a voice, and Scott looked up to see the new Transfigurations teacher, Professor Rosewater, sit down at her desk.

"Yeah." Scott said casually.

"That's an advanced subject. May I ask why?" Rosewater asked, staring at him with piercing blue eyes that felt like they were x-raying him.

"Well…" Scott began, feeling tension in the air as Rosewater kept staring at him, like a cat might stare at a goldfish. "…after I finish Hogwarts, I'd like to do some traveling, maybe write a book about my travels, to make a living." Scott explained. "That's why I want to take Care of Magical Creatures, for any I might come across, and Ancient Runes, if I happen to find some, I'd like to translate them."

"Ah, like the author of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_?" Rosewater smiled.

"Yeah, something like that." Scott said awkwardly. "Why do you ask, Professor?"

"Just curious in my house students." Rosewater smiled. "I've just been appointed house leader for Gryffindor. "Isn't that right, Minerva?"

"Yes." Minerva sighed. "Only effective this morning, and there will be a proper announcement this evening."

"Really?" Scott asked skeptically, but quickly answered to make up for it. "Congratulations, Professor."

"Thank you." Rosewater grinned smugly, watching him with smiling eyes. "Better move along to class, Mr. Duncanson, there are other students waiting."

"Yeah…" Scott said, and turned away from the front of the line to join Leahna and Natz. He could feel Rosewater's eyes boring into the back of his head, and as he walked away to their first lesson, Scott couldn't help but feel there was something not right about their new Professor.


	5. Chapter 5: In the Dungeons

"Thank you." Rosewater grinned smugly, watching him with smiling eyes. "Better move along to class, Mr. Duncanson, there are other students waiting."

"Yeah…" Scott said, and turned away from the front of the line to join Leahna and Natz. He could feel Rosewater's eyes boring into the back of his head, and as he walked away to their first lesson, Scott couldn't help but feel there was something not right about their new Professor.

Potions was the first class on their timetables. They walked down into the dungeons and joined the rest of the class that was filling up the room, as Professor Slughorn waltzed in. Scott didn't like Slughorn much, as he was the head of Slytherin, and was short, rounded man who had the bad habit of ignoring anyone who wasn't famous, talented or related to one of the two.

"Welcome, welcome third years, to Potions!" he said in a jolly tone, that Scott knew wouldn't last. "Today we will first be examining potions that have an affect on the aging process. Tell me, can anyone identify the potions in these two cauldrons?"

Leahna put her hand up, and immediately Slughorn identified her. "Yes, Miss Mayo?"

"The cauldron on the left is Aging Potion." she said, dropping her hand down.

"Yes, correct!" Slughorn smiled. "And can you tell me the pros and cons of drinking the potion?"

Scott was amazed Slughorn was still holding his attention over Leahna, and she seemed to be just as surprised, as usually he went on talking after he had gotten an answer from a student he wasn't interested in.

"Erm, yeah, the Aging potion should only be taken in drops, which will age you a few months and the effects only last a few hours, but if drunken too much it will dramatically age you and the effects can be irreversible."

"Correct!" Slughorn boomed happily. "And tell me Miss Mayo, would you be related to Abigail Jane Mayo, one of the pioneer witches to first declare the rights for witches to play Quiddich?"

"Um, no, I don't think so. I don't have wizarding parents, you see." she said.

There were murmurs from the Slytherin table, and someone said "Mudblood." Scott shot them a dirty look, but no-one met his eye.

"Alright," said Slughorn, purposefully ignoring the slander, "…who can tell me what is in the cauldron on the right?"

Natz had her hand up, but Slughorn seemed to ignore it. Some Slytherins had their hands up, but Slughorn's eyes fell upon Scott, and suddenly he said, "Why don't you tell us, Mr. Duncanson?"

Scott now knew suddenly how Leahna felt, as suddenly all eyes in the room were upon him. But already used to the same situation before from the past two years of classes, Scott recomposed himself from his surprise and answered casually, "It's Shrinking Solution, sir."

"Precisely! The countermeasure to the Aging Potion, as it were. Pros and cons, Mr. Duncanson?"

"Same as the Aging Potion." Scott said simply. "A few drops can make a person a few months younger for a few hours, but if taken excessively, can revert them back to a younger age permanently."

"Excellent!" Slughorn boomed. "Tell me Mr. Duncanson, would you in any way be related to Graham Bell Duncanson, one of the earliest Aurors to join the Ministry of Magic under the formation of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?"

Why Slughorn was suddenly interested in him, he had no idea. He could understand his sudden interest in Leahna, maybe, because she was conceitedly attractive and was popular, but he hadn't done anything to draw attention, but answered Slughorn anyway.

"No, I don't think so either, my grandfather was adopted. And I'm a Mudblood, too." he said proudly, staring hard over at the Slytherin table. He was met with several glares from them as some of the other students gasped.

"Alright, that's enough." Slughorn cut them off. "Today you will be attempting to make the Aging Potion. Textbooks out please to the relevant chapter, and I advise none of you drink anything of what you produce at your own risk. You have twenty minutes, and I expect to see good results from the best of you!" he announced, and Scott thought he saw Slughorn wink at him and Leahna.

Scott went to work on the page he had opened in his textbook to create Aging Potion, and went to work collecting his ingredients. Twenty minutes later, he had produced something close to the expected color and sheen of the potion in his cauldron, and let go of his stirring ladle as Slughorn boomed, "Time's up, stop what you're doing!" He came around and inspected everyone's cauldrons, first at Leahna's table with her friends. After passing over her friends with a few disinterested whiffs, he looked over Leahna's and beamed brightly. "Well done, Miss Mayo! You have there quite the ideal color and sheen. A textbook example. And all on your own talent, too! Well done."

Leahna smiled and looked proud of herself. "Thanks."

He passed over Natz's and Jemma's table, who were sitting with two of their friends. He didn't so much as look into their friend's cauldrons, and then looked into Jemma's cauldron. He looked away from the black gunk she had produced with a slight nod, and into Natz's. He turned away from the purple fluid she had made, muttering a "Yes, yes."

Next was Scott's and James's table, with a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw they weren't familiar with. Slughorn stared into James's cauldron, noticing his was a slight violet shade, almost at the required indigo color, and said "Quite close, Mr. Matthews, but a little more to be desired." Then he looked into Scott's cauldron.

"Outstanding!" he boomed. "Exactly the same sheen and color as Miss Mayo's over there, a perfect example of Aging potion! You've put a lot of hard work and study into yours, Mr. Duncanson. Yes, top marks to the both of you!"

"Thank you, sir." Scott said gratefully.

Slughorn went over to inspect the Slytherin table and didn't make any further comments, raising his voice after he had inspected the last cauldron. "Bottle the contentsyou're your cauldron and leave it on my desk for submission, please. Wednesday is our lesson on the Shrinking Solution. Time is up, tidy up after yourselves please and I'll be seeing you then. Miss Mayo and Mr. Duncanson, remain behind please."

Scott packed his belongings and bottled his Aging potion, curious about what Slughorn wanted him and Leahna for, and had a feeling he was about to find out. He waved his wand and said "_Evanesco_.", making the contents of the cauldron disappear. Then walking up with Leahna to Slughorn's desk as everyone left the room, Slughorn addressed them both.

"Congratulations you two, I was very impressed by the way you handled yourselves with those Dementors!" Slughorn told them, revealing the real reason why he had been favoring them over everyone else in the class. "Miss Mayo, quite the accomplishment with the Stupefy spell, an advanced piece of magic learnt by such a young witch as yourself! How did you ever learn such a spell?"

"Erm, I've been watching other people do it." Leahna explained awkwardly. "We had dueling classes last year, and I practiced."

"Ah yes. And Mr. Duncanson, my boy, what a stream of fire you produced from your Incendo spell! Saw it from the end of the corridor with my own eyes, I was surprised you didn't burn half the carriage down! However did you think of such a spell so quickly to use against a Dementor?"

Scott felt put on the spot, and looked at Leahna quickly before looking at Slughorn. "Well, Leahna thought of using the spell actually, since we haven't been taught how to use a Patronus Charm. But the Dementor attacked her before she could finish it, so I did for her. It was good quick-thinking, actually, even if it held it off for a few seconds."

"So modest." Slughorn said, "But still, quite an impressive dislay. I'd like to invite both of you to a little Potions class not on your timetables to discuss your achievements. All the best students will be there, and of course there will be sweets!" He thrust a piece of parchment into each of their hands, an invitation which read the time, date and classroom in the dungeons of something called "Slug Lunch." Slughorn smiled, and waved them off. "I'll see you there!" he said joyfully. "Off to class now, the both of you!"

Scott and Leahna left the classroom together, heading out of the dungeons.

"That was weird." Scott laughed the moment they left the classroom.

"Yeah." Leahna laughed. "So are you going to go to this slug lunch thing?"

"And hang out with Slughorn and a bunch of Slytherins? I don't think so. You?"

"Same. I don't think I'd want to be there." Leahna agreed.

Suddenly there was a scream. Scott gave Leahna a 'something's up' look, and she returned it, and the both of them pulled out their wands. The scream had come from somewhere further in the dungeons, and the further they went in, the darker it seemed to get, and it wasn't until Leahna silently pointed it out first did he noticed that the torches had been put out.

"_Lumos_."Scott recited again, lighting his wand, reminded of what happened last time he did.

"_Lumos_." Leahna said as well, he wand sheading faint light amongst the darkened stone walls.

They moved quickly but quietly down the dungeon corridor, until they rounded the corner.

It was there they saw who had made the scream. It was a tall ghost known as the Grey Lady, standing over the body of a girl. "Murder, murder! Murder in the castle!" she screamed at the top of her voice.

Leahna and Scott rushed over to the body of the girl on the floor. She was a Hufflepuff girl, maybe in the first or second year, with blonde hair done up in pigtails. She was bleeding from a small cut in her arm, and her blood had dripped out from her sleeve into a large puddle on the floor.

"I didn't see anyone, I just found her on the floor." The Grey Lady explained.

"Do you know any healing spells?" Scott asked Leahna kneeling down on the floor as he tried putting pressure on her wound.

"Here." Leahna said. "_Episkey."_ She said, pointing her wand at the wound. It didn't heal over. "Something's wrong." she said.

"I think I know what." Scott said dreadfully, feeling the girl's pulse. "Nothing. And she's not breathing. She's dead."

The two looked at the girl's body for a moment, trying to comprehend that there was a dead body there in front of them, and what exactly they should do next.

There was a flash of lighting, and Scott was suddenly aware of the fact there was something shiny on the wall. Leahna noticed it too. They lifted up their wands like torches, and lighting up the wall next to the girl's body, they saw the omnious message, written largely in the girl's blood:

I WARNED YOU

THE MUDBLOODS WILL BE FIRST

"Caught you!" said a sinister voice, and Scott became aware that Mrs. Norris had appeared by his side, Argus Filch holding his lanturn up to his face as he strode over to them with a wicked grin. "You two are in a lot of trouble now…"


	6. Chapter 6: Expecto Patronum

There was a flash of lighting, and Scott was suddenly aware of the fact there was something shiny on the wall. Leahna noticed it too. They lifted up their wands like ptorches, and lighting up the wall next to the girl's body, they saw the omnious message, written largely in the girl's blood:

I WARNED YOU

THE MUDBLOODS WILL BE FIRST

"Caught you!" said a sinister voice, and Scott became aware that Mrs. Norris had appeared by his side, Argus Filch holding his lanturn up to his face as he strode over to them with a wicked grin. "You two are in a lot of trouble now…"

"The Grey Lady," Leahna said first, "You were here first, you can tell him – " She stopped in mid-sentence, because the Grey Lady had gone.

"The _Grey Lady_? Likely story." Filch spat. "Your only accomplice being a ghost, you little liar. I knew a student was behind this, you'll be disciplined for this mark my words, this is your first step towards Azkaban…"

"She is NOT a liar." Scott raised his voice. "And if she's going to Azkaban, then I'm going with her. The Grey Lady was here, she alerted us to the body in the first place…"

"Body? What's going on here?" Slughorn's voice came, and he marched around the corner up to the scene. Scott couldn't have been more relieved to have seen him at that moment. "Oh my… how ghastly, the poor girl…" his eyes wondered up to the message to take it all in.

Filch interrupted him. "I caught these two students writing up this message in this girl's cold blood."

"That's not true!" Leahna raised her voice angrily.

"Quiet you, you're in enough trouble as it is!" Filch turned to Slughorn for recognition. "Hold these two here, while I go get the headmaster."

"That will not be necessary, my good man." Slughorn said. "Why, these two fantastic examples of students were only minutes ago talking to me in my classroom. I just received word through the headmaster portraits that McGonagall wants to see them in her office immediately before the next class. She asked me to tell you if you were in the area to stay with the body and keep away any students, especially the Slytherins down the corridor. You two, with me, and quickly. Let's clear this matter up."

Slughorn left Scott and Leahna away from Filch and the body, hearing Filch yell "Stop that, Mrs Norris!" to his cat that was licking up the girl's blood, before they rounded the corner.

"What did Slughorn mean, 'especially the Slytherins down the corridor'?" Scott said in a hushed voice to Leahna as Slughorn lead the way for them.

"_Nox."_ Leahna said, turning off the light on her wand, reminding Scott to do the same, before she answered. "The Slytherin common room is down there." Leahna told him. "I thought you knew that?"

"I knew their common room was in the dungeon, I haven't explored this part of the school yet." Scott explained himself. "…but I'll mark it on my map later."

"You're still drawing up that map of Hogwarts?" Leahna asked him. "That's dangerous. We're in enough trouble now as it is, you could get yourself expelled if you get caught with the Disasphere."

"Yeah I am, and I know. But I'm tired of running into Peeves and having to go the long way around to a class when there was another shortcut I could have taken." Scott went on the defensive again. "I know you think I'm crazy. But that's besides the point…"

"Actually, I'm kind of impressed, from what I've seen of it last year." Leahna admitted. "It's about time someone made a map of this school, and I wouldn't mind a copy too. But what were you going to say?"

"It's beside the point; we shouldn't be worrying about navigating the school now." Scott reminded her, looking ahead at Slughorn as he led them out the dungeons. "That wall the message was written must have been for the Slytherins when they walked out of their common room."

"Yeah, someone is definitely trying to spread the message to all the houses to get out of Hogwarts." Leahna agreed.

"If that one was written in blood from a murder victim for the Slytherins, what does that say for the other houses, though?" Scott suddenly concluded.

Leahna gasped, suddenly realizing what Scott meant. "You're not serious? You don't think…?"

But again she was cut off from saying anything further when Slughorn said loudly, "Quaffle." and the gargoyle statue in front of him swung open, revealing the escalator-like spiral steps that led up to the Headmaster's office. They rode the steps up and appeared amongst a clatter of voices, some high with anger, others softer in sadness, most of them chattering in murmurs, the portraits of headmasters past speaking to each other as McGonagall consoled the house elf in her office.

"Winky found the boy miss, after she was asked to leave the kitchen to get potatoes." said a small house elf to McGonagall. "He was just lying there, with all his bloods coming out, some of it on the wall behind him."

"Did you see anyone there, anyone at all?" Professor McGonagall asked the elf.

"No miss, no-one at all, only the boy." The little house elf looked like she was going to burst into tears, then suddenly she ran forward and hit her head into the leg of the metal table, and repeated the action several times.

"Winky, what in heavens name are you punishing yourself for? You did nothing wrong." McGonagall said.

"Winky is punishing herself because she failed to get the potatoes like she was asked to do, Headmaster! Winky was asked to come straight here instead by Professor Flitwick and tell Headmaster McGonagall everything she saw!" Winky sniffled, still ramming her head into the table leg.

"Then stop it at once." McGonagall huffed. "Winky, I order you to go fetch the potatoes and resume your kitchen duties!"

"Thank you Headmaster!" Winky wiped her tears away with the sack she was wearing, and she turned around on the spot, apparating into thin air.

"You were right," Leahna whispered to Scott. "There were more students killed."

"Trust me, I wish I hadn't been." Scott said gloomily.

McGonagall sighed deeply, then looked up at Slughorn entering with Scott and Leahna. "Thank you, Slughorn. Alright, Miss Mayo and Mr. Duncanson.Explain why you have blood on your hands and robes."

Scott looked down, and sure enough, their hands and robes were still stained in blood.

"We can explain – " Leahna said hesitantly, but looked to Scott for guidance, giving him a 'you go first' look.

"Well, it all started when Slughorn let us go after he kept us back in class." Scott spoke up confidently. "We were walking to our next Defence Against the Dark Arts class, when we heard a scream. We went to see what it was with our wands drawn, and we found the Grey Lady standing over the Hufflepuff girl."

"We tried our best to heal her bleeding wound, but she was already dead." Leahna continued, feeling more confident. "Someone must have killed her first before writing with her blood on the wall. Then the Grey Lady left, then Filch found us, then Professor Slughorn."

"Yes, the Grey Lady did come and explain everything to me only minutes ago. And Horace, you can account for holding back these two?" Minerva asked.

"Oh yes, quite, they were exceptionally gifted students, so I was simply inviting them to my Slug Lunch…" Slughorn testified.

"That will do, Horace." Minerva said. "Did you two see anyone, or notice anything else out of the ordinary?" she asked, looking at Scott and Leahna again.

"No." Leahna shook her head.

"Only the message on the wall, and the storm still going on outside." Scott added.

"Alright__" Minerva said, "You are all dismissed. Back to class now, and I would advise you not to speak of this to any of the other students, so as not to create panic. Am I clear?" She asked, and looked at the other students that were standing along the back wall. Scott noticed there were Gryffindor girls and a Ravenclaw boy. The girls looked shocked, while the tall dark-haired boy stood emotionless. They nodded to McGonagall with Scott and Leahna.

"And I trust that you two can clean yourselves up before class." she said, looking at Scott and Leahna. "Dismissed." Then all of them filed out down the stairs.

"What did you guys find?" Leahna asked the Gryffindor girls as the escalator staircase desended.

"We had a free period after History of Magic, so we came back to the portrait hole… we found a Gryffindor girl." Said a short blonde-haired girl.

"Anyone we know?" Scott asked.

"Her name was Caity Brown… a first year like us." The blonde-haired girl said quietly.

"How about in the Ravenclaw tower?" Scott asked the Ravenclaw boy. "Who was it?"

"Fourth year student called Gregory Gonzalez." The tall boy said. "Excuse me, but I've got to get to class."

"Us too." Said the blonde Gryffindor girl. "See you."

Scott and Leahna stepped off the moving spiral staircase as the students left, both of them taking in what they had just witnessed.

"Hold still for a second._Tergeo._" Leahna asked Scott, pointing her wand at Scott's robes, then his hands, then repeated the spell for her own. "I can't believe it. Four students, already dead." Leahna said in disbelief as they kept walking.

"Thanks. Yeah, and it all happened between breakfast and our first class. Whoever's doing this knows what they are doing." Scott said tensely, as they prepared to turn a corner towards Defense Against the Dark Arts Class.

Suddenly someone appeared from around the corner, and Scott and Leahna whisked out their wands, meeting face to face with a blue-eyed boy who had also drawn his wand.

"Sorry guys." James said, lowering his wand. "Thought you guys were the Azkaban prisoner or something!" he laughed half-heartedly.

Scott and Leahna lowered their wands, and sighed together in relief in unison. "James, what are you doing here?"

"Professor Hebel hasn't shown up for class yet, so me, Natz and Jemma came looking for you." James said, and Natz and Jemma walked up behind him.

"We saw one of the Aurors rush past us towards the dungeons, and you weren't with us. Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, Slughorn just kept us back." Leahna explained, looking at Scott. She rolled her eyes towards James, Natz and Jemma, giving him a '_we should tell them'_ look.

"There's something you guys should know," Scott went ahead. "People have been murdered. Four of them."

"What?" Natz asked.

"You're kidding." James said.

Jemma just remained quiet.

"We found one of the bodies after Slughorn let us go near the Slytherin common room." Leahna told them. "Slughorn took us to McGonagall's office. The murderer used their blood to put up more messages."

Natz gasped. "What did it say?" she said.

"Something like, 'I warned you, Mudbloods are next." Leahna said, moving quickly past them. "C'mon, that Professor Hebel guy might be back at the classroom now."

"Blimey. Anyone we know?" James asked.

"No-one in our year, I think…" Scott said, and paused when he thought he heard someone up in the corridor ahead of them. It sounded like some sort of argument was going on. He drew his wand, Leahna after him, and James, Natz and Jemma drew theirs in unison. They neared the corner of the small corridor, and Scott listened in.

"… Miles, if there is something I should know, you should tell me." came Professor Rosewater's voice. "I know you are avoiding me since you did not show up when I gave you an invitation to my office."

"I told you, I only said what I said because I hadn't finished my sentence. I meant to say, 'I knew I shouldn't have kept quiet about this supposed prisoner on the loose.' And now four students are dead." The other voice said, clearly the voice of Professor Hebel, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Don't guilt me to avoid the subject, Miles." Rosewater said. "If you really are concerned about those students as I am, you would tell me what you know, and what you are doing here at Hogwarts."

"I could ask you the very same, Eda." Hebel said annoyingly. "Don't think you can bully your way into getting information out of me, I have nothing to do with what's going on here. Now if you will excuse me, I have a class I'm late for."

"Alright, fine Miles." Rosewater said calmly. "But I know you reacted when you heard the news of the student deaths for a reason. And don't misunderstand me when I say it would do you wrong to accuse me because of my past. _Gravely_ wrong."

Scott couldn't believe what he was hearing; it sounded like Rosewater was threatening Hebel. Still eavesdropping in on the conversation around the corner, there was the sound of clicking footsteps leading away from them as Rosewater left, then a masculine sigh from Hebel. The sound of his footsteps drew closer, and everyone put away their wands as Professor Hebel strode around the corner, his hands full with large box and his face looking reddish and flushed.

"Third years? What are you doing here in the corridor?" Hebel asked, then shook his head. "Never mind, come with me." He smiled broadly. "We have an exciting morning ahead of us!"

"I knew I couldn't trust Rosewater." Scott said a few minutes later, as the group followed after Professor Hebel to Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

"Hebel wasn't being friendly either, it sounded like he was hiding something." Leahna reasoned as they entered the classroom where the other students were sitting, spotting her friends sitting down at their desks. "I'll talk about it with you later, okay?"

"Okay," Scott said, but he felt a bit annoyed he couldn't talk about it any further with her. He sat down at a desk next to James.

"What did you make of that conversation we overheard?" James asked Scott.

"Well, it sounds suspicious from both sides." Scott said. "What about you?"

"Yeah, it's hard to say." James said, smiling at Natz and Jemma as they sat opposite them. "If only we knew what they were talking about in the first place, we might have a clearer understanding…"

"Morning students!" Hebel interrupted James's thought. "My name is Professor Miles Hebel." He wrote his name magically on the chalkboard with few flicks of his wand. "Some of you might have heard of my published works, _The Darkest Places in Europe _and _Dark Magicks: A Tourist's Guide. _But I'm not here to talk about me, we're here to learn about how to protect ourselves from dark arts. So, who can tell me about the kinds of dark creatures floating around the grounds of Hogwarts at this very moment?"

The students looked confused for a moment, before Jemma raised her hand.

"Dementors." she said when Hebel acknowledged her. "Wraiths that have the ability to suck the happiness out of the air and feed on human souls."

There were a few snickers from the Slytherins desks; Scott looked over at them to see them looking mockingly at him and Leahna.

"Very good!" Hebel said. "Now who can tell me the charm used to repel the Dementors?"

"The Patronus charm." James said when Hebel chose him.

"Precisely!" Hebel said joyfully. "The Patronus Charm is one of the only few charms that can repel them, as they are the very opposite of what Dementors are; positive emotion, fuelled by the witch or wizard who casts it, so much that it overwhelms them. And that, students, is what we will be attempting today. The Patronus charm can only be conjured by the most powerful witches and wizards, so I don't expect to see any significant results today, only that you attempt at it. The Headmaster wishes that you learned this difficult technique because of the presence of Dementors around Hogwarts, but only in the extreme measure that an authorized figure cannot be around to defend you. So, out of your desks to the front of the class, pens and textbooks away, and let's begin!"

There was a rush of excited voices, and everyone moved out of their seats quickly. Hebel cast a spell to push all the desks and chairs against the wall, and ordered all the students to spread out and take their wands out.

"Now, watch me closely. The trick to casting a powerful Patronus charm is to think back to a very positive memory. It can be any memory, anything which applies to you, that makes you feel the happiest you have ever been in your life. Focus on that memory, concentrate, and once you fully have a grasp of it, point your wand out and say, "_Expecto Patronum!"_

At once, their was a wisp of light that came from Professor Hebel's wand, and the light took the form of a four-legged animal, that the class only got a glimpse of before it disappeared back into the wand.

"The Patronus takes on the form of an animal that represents our personality, or means something emotionally to us." Hebel explained. "Now, everyone, get practicing. Raise your wands, focus on a happy memory, and chant "_Expetco Patronum."_

The class did as they were told, a few excited shouts and calls came from some of them when they saw light coming from their wands, only to see it fading away seconds later. Scott stood near James, trying to think of a memory. When he was a Muggle, he moved around a lot, so he couldn't think of anything before he became a wizard. He thought of being with his friends, and thought of the time they were at the Hogwarts Express talking to each other. Small wisps of light faded in and out from the tips of his wand, but nothing more. He looked up, and saw James wasn't having much luck either. Nearby he saw Natz, a few sparks coming from her wand, and Jemma, who wasn't producing anything at all.

Then he spotted Leahna across the way amongst her friends who had traces of light coming from her wand, and he had a flashback of all the times they had been at Hogwarts together, including the time they had been sitting at breakfast together that morning. The thought made him smile as he watched her.

"Mr. Duncanson, very impressive!" Professor Hebel boomed, making everyone look at him, then at Scott. Scott looked away from Leahna, surprised to see what had drawn Hebel's attention, the end of his wand was streaming strong waves of blue-colored light from its tip, and something resembling an image moved around amongst it, like an unclear reception of a television set. Quickly the waves died down and back into the wand, then there was nothing there.

"Strong grip on the positive memory, Mr. Duncanson, concentrate!" Hebel reminded him. "Keep up the good work everyone!"

There wasn't much improvement from anyone else for the reminder of the lesson, and Hebel told everyone time was up. "Good work students, as I said, the Patronus charm is cast only by the most powerful of witches and wizards; it takes a moment to learn, and a lifetime to master. With time and practice it can become second nature, but hopefully you will never have to use it. Tomorrow we will be resuming our normal studies and concentrating on identifying objects and artifacts imbued with the Dark Arts. See you then!"

The class filed out with a roar of conversation, but not before Scott felt Hebel's presence near his desk, and said, "Duncanson, a word if I may."  
Scott couldn't believe his luck as he followed Hebel's gesture towards the back of the room, where Hebel's desk was. What was it with the teachers asking him to stay back?

"Just one thing." Hebel stated as he sat down. "I was impressed by your display of the Patronus charm in today's lesson, Duncanson, and I would like to ask you if you would like to attend private lessons with me to help you master it."

"Me?" Scott said. He wasn't sure what to say. It would cut in with study and his time with his friends, what would he need a Patronus charm for? "I don't understand why you're asking me, Professor. Is it for extra credit?"

"You could say that," Hebel said, "But I don't think I need to tell you how important it is to protect yourself from Dementors, from the incident you got into on the Hogwarts Express."

"But I wasn't the only one attacked." Scott justified. "My friends were attacked too. Why can't they attend private lessons as well? They're just as capable."

"I don't have the time to teach more than one student outside class, and the curriculum won't allow me to teach it any further until later on in the year." Hebel informed him. "I've already approached a number of students, all which would prefer to let the Aurors do their work. But between you and me, I think the Aurors need an extra bit of help. The prisoner they are meant to be chasing has not revealed themselves, and you are one of the few students who has actually seen one of the victims. We need an eye to watch from the students point of view, let the teachers know if they've seen anything or anyone acting suspiciously."

"You mean, you want me to be your watchdog?" Scott simplified it, frowning at Hebel.

"Harsh words, Duncanson, but yes." Hebel said, looking over his half-moon spectacles as he put them on. "Tell you what, sleep on it, and let me know. I will send you an invitation. If you like, you can teach your friends what I have taught you. Off you go, it's nearly lunchtime, and I've got grades to do."  
Scott frowned curiously, and turned away from Hebel's desk. The invitation for private lessons was tempting, as he knew James would be eager to learn if he could pass it onto him, since he wanted to be an Auror. And Scott wanted to protect Leahna better next time than simply throwing flames at a Dementor. But one question remained on his mind.

"Professor," he paused, turning around, "How did you know about me seeing one of the students dead?"

"Oh?" Hebel said, as if he had been caught out. "I, er, heard Professor Rosewater tell me. On your way, boy."

Scott nodded, and turned away; he knew he had spoken to Rosewater, but how did Rosewater know so quickly? Or was he lying? Something definitely wasn't right.


	7. Chapter 7: Eda Rosewater

Scott frowned curiously, and turned away from Hebel's desk. The invitation for private lessons was tempting, as he knew James would be eager to learn if he could pass it onto him, since he wanted to be an Auror. And Scott wanted to protect Leahna better next time than simply throwing flames at a Dementor. But one question remained on his mind.

"Professor," he paused, turning around, "How did you know about me seeing one of the students dead?"

"Oh?" Hebel said, as if he had been caught out. "I, er, heard Professor Rosewater tell me. On your way, boy."

Scott nodded, and turned away; he knew he had spoken to Rosewater, but how did Rosewater know so quickly? Or was he lying? Something definitely wasn't right.

"Maybe McGonagall told her somehow." James said, minutes later when he and Scott were sitting down at lunch together. The girls had gone to have lunch with their friends. They were discussing about what Scott had been told by Hebel after Defense the Dark Arts. "Wish I could have done my Patronus charm as good as you did, though. Then I could be having private lessons with him instead."

"Forget that." Scott said. "Something's up. One of these two is hiding something. Hebel or Rosewater. Either way, I think they're got something to do with the attacks."

"Why would Hebel give you private Patronus lessons while he's murdering students?" James asked.

"Well… they might be one of the Azkaban prisoners in disguise, like with Polyjuice Potion or with the Imperious Curse. Maybe they want to teach me and others how to do the Patronus charm to keep the Dementors at bay so they won't come after them."

"Polyjuice Potion?" Jemma asked curiously, as the dark-haired girl appeared and sat down next to them. "Imperius Curse?"

"I'll explain later." Scott said to her. "Anyway, it has to do with at least one of them. It can't be coincidence they are both new teachers on the same semester Dementors show up."

"Yeah, maybe mate." James said, finishing his plate. "Anyway, I'll see you in Transfiguration class this afternoon. See ya." He got up and left the table, as Natz appeared from a group of girls to walk and talk with him.

"She's spending a lot of time with him lately." Jemma commented, who as looking in the same direction.

"I'm sure they just have a lot in common." Scott excused them, thinking he knew what Jemma was leading to and wanting to avoid talking about the subject. "So you and I have Ancient Runes class this afternoon. Excited?"

"Nah." Jemma said. "I just want this day to be over with." A black cat appeared from under the table and jumped onto the seat next to her.  
"Is this your cat?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, her name's Midnight." Jemma told him, picking the cat up. "Sorry, she keeps getting out all the time and I don't know how. I expect she just waits for Ravenclaws to come in and scoots out before they can shut the door. I've got to go put her back; see you in class."

"Try to avoid running into Filch." Scott advised. "I don't think he's in a good mood today."

After lunch, it was Transfigurations class. As the students filed into class, Scott wasn't sure what Rosewater had in mind to teach them, and wasn't sure if he was going to like it. Rosewater was sitting at her desk, writing something down on parchment with her quill. When all the students had sat down, she wrote her name with her wand on the chalkboard and sat down.

"Good evening, students. My name is Eda Rosewater." She introduced herself. "Welcome back to Transfigurations. This year we will be focusing on transforming aspects of ourselves rather than transforming simple objects. Before we begin our first practice, let's do some small theory work. Can anyone tell me the two types of magi that an transform their appearances, without the use of spells or potions, and what appearances they can take on?"

Leahna had her hand up in the air, and Eda chose her. "There's Metamorphamagi. They can change their facial appearances at will."

"Very good." Eda said. "And why is it that any witch or wizard can't choose to be a Metamorphamagi by will?"

"Metamorphamagi is an inherit trait, so you can only be born with the ability." Leahna answered.

"Yes. Well done Miss Mayo." Rosewater said. "And the other type of magi?" she asked the class.

"Animagi." James said when Rosewater chose his hand. "They're magi that can morph into animals."

"Yes." Rosewater said. "Unlike Metamorphamagi, any witch or wizard can become one. Can anyone tell me what the benefits of being an Animagi might be?"

"To work closer with creatures." A girl up the back said when Rosewater chose her.

"Yes, anyone else?" Rosewater asked.

"To work in conditions where a witch or wizard might find impossible?" a boy said.

"Yes, well done." Rosewater said. "Also it is an advantage to be an Animagi to travel large distances without using magic, using senses, stealth, strength or speed a human does not process, and to assist witches or wizards that may be impaired by magical spells, potions, curses or otherwise. But sometimes, using spells to transfigure a part of our bodies may be enough, rather than fully transforming our entire bodies. That is the focus of today's practice, where we will be transforming our noses into dog's noses."

A few students laughed.

"Yes, it is quite amusing, especially once you discover the scents you will be able to pick up with them. Alright, to start, each of you needs to wave their wands, in this fashion…"

For the rest of the lesson, Scott and James practiced on each other, unable to stop laughing at each other each time their nose became distorted or grew in shape.

At the end of the lesson, the students filed out of the classroom, and Scott almost half-expected Rosewater to ask him to stay back, but Rosewater had gone back to writing with her quill and parchment. Hanging back, Scott approached her desk, curious to ask her something.

"Excuse me, Professor Rosewater?" Scott asked, as Rosewater continued to write.

"Yes, Mr. Duncanson?" Eda asked.

"I was speaking to Professor Hebel, and he told me he knew about how me and Leahna had found the Hufflepuff girl in the dungeons. And he told me you told him." Scott studied her for a reaction but she did not look up. "How did you know?"

Rosewater finally stopped her writing momentarily, and looked up at him. "Word travels fast around Hogwarts, Mr. Duncanson. I found out directly from Headmaster McGonagall, who I believe had just finished speaking to you at the time. She informed me by telling a headmaster, who's other portrait was in my office. You may ask Headmaster McGonagall yourself when she gets the chance."

Scott was surprised by her sudden honesty, but still wasn't sure if he could trust her. "Okay, cool, thanks Professor."

"Why did you ask me, Mr. Duncanson? Is it because you do not trust me, because you suspect me?" Rosewater asked, and looked at him with that x-ray look.

"I didn't mean to sound like that, Professor." Scott said uncomfortably, preparing what he was going to say next. "I was just curious, and if we have a prisoner on the loose, I need to inform anyone of anything suspicious I've seen or heard."

"I see." Rosewater said. "So you would like to help?"

She opened the draw in her desk and handed Scott a card. "There may be a book that can help you in the Restricted section of the library. A little heads-up for you and your friends; a peace offering, if you will." She winked at him.  
Scott looked at Rosewater curiously, then at the card. It read:

_Cartography; a magical means of maps and markers_

By: _unknown_

"Um, thanks, but what does this…?" Scott tried to say.

"Just go take a look in the Restricted Area." Rosewater cut him off.

"But, I need a pass… you haven't given me a pass..." Scott said in confusion.

"I think both you and I know you have the means to access the Restricted Area, or perhaps any area, whenever you wish." Rosewater smiled, and folded her parchment, gathering her things.

"How do you know about my…?" Scott said, wondering if she was hinting at his Disasphere. "Did you send the Disasphere to me?"

Rosewater kept smiling, and did not say a word, as she opened the office door behind her desk and shut it behind her, leaving Scott alone again in the Transfiguration classroom.

"So are you going to do it?" Leahna asked him that evening, while they were sitting in the Gryffindor common room, writing up the essay Rosewater had given them about the different types of magis and their benefits to the wizarding world.

"Yeah, tonight, after I finished the essay." Scott said, quickly writing down something he had thought of.

"That sounds like a cool idea, I hope you guys don't get caught." Natz said as she lay on the floor, stroking Aslan as she wrote.

"Yeah, me too. I wish I could come with you." Leahna said.

"Actually, you can." Scott said in a low voice, so no other Gryffindors could hear them. "The Disasphere isn't limited to one person, you know."

"Okay cool. How do you mean, though?"

"It's like dough, it can be split into two or more spheres." Scott explained. "If you two aren't doing anything, then we can wait until everyone's left the common room and go tonight."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to go up to one of our rooms together and go invisible there?" Natz asked.

"Not since they put enchantments on both the boys and girl's dormitories, so that only the same gender can go up either stairs." Scott said.

"What happens if I and Larnie tried to go up into your room?" Natz said.

"A _Glisseo _spell has been cast on both stairs, so you two would go sliding back into the common room the moment you tried climbing them. It's what happened last Valentine's day when one of the sixth year girls tried chasing a boy up the stairs with a love potion. It spilled everywhere, I'm glad I left before I got a whiff of it." Scott chuckled. "So yeah, we have to do it from here."

"Well, I think I'm going to sit this one out." Natz said. "It sounds exciting and stuff, but I don't want to get caught. It sounds like Rosewater might be setting a trap for you, Scott."

"Well, even if she's the murderer or not, I'm going. I think she hinted that she's the one who gave me the Disasphere, and she must know I'm making a map if she's pointing me towards this book. It might have a map of the school or something I could use, she might be trying to help too."

"Well, I'm going." Leahna said. "It sounds like exciting, and I don't think we'll get caught."

"Okay, well I'm going to bed." Natz said, packing up her things. "Goodnight."

Scott and Leahna finished their essays, then stayed up talking about the things they had seen that day as they waited for the other Gryffindors to leave the room, laughing when Enzo started pawing at something in mid-air that wasn't there as he stretched out on his back. Finally when it was very late and the last Gryffindor had left, Scott handed to Leahna half of the Disasphere, and they both vanished. Enzo looked confused when there was no-one there, and jumped off the couch, running up to Leahna's room.

"Let's go." Scott whispered, still able to see Leahna, and moved over to the door.

"It's weird how I can still see you. Can you see me?" she giggled.

"Yeah, it's just the magic of the sphere. Remember how James dropped it last year to see what would happen, and I had the other half? He and you couldn't see it, but I could. I guess it's the way we can keep track of each other."

"Yeah." Leahna said. "Let's go."

They moved across the room and through the portrait hole, opening the portrait hole very slowly so as to not wake the Fat Lady they could hear snoring on the other side. They stepped quietly and quickly, withdrawing their wands from their pockets as they moved. They didn't dare light their wands with the _Lumos_ spell, knowing light might destroy the illusion that was keeping them undetected.

The castle was eerie at night time. Scott could hear the soft rain falling on the castle rooftops, but apart from that, there was complete silence. Ghosts wandered eerily amongst the halls, and Scott even saw the prankster ghost he had mentioned before, Peeves, singing aloud to himself as he passed them along the corridor:

_Prisoner, prisoner,_

_Come out, wherever you are_

_So naughty Peeves can throw at you_

_Flobberworm goo from afar!_

Glad they had passed Peeves successfully; Scott and Leahna looked at each other with relief across the corridor, and moved into the library.

The Restricted Area had been pointed out to them by Madam Pince ever since they had first stepped into the library. Even now while she was asleep, Scott was expecting Madam Pince to lean around a corner and go "Shhh!" at them, since he was so used to her doing it. But then again, when Scott and Leahna visited the library, they were always talking.

Leahna moved into the Restricted Area, with Scott behind her, checking to see that no-one had heard them. They started looking for the book, and saw a lot of old and dark novels: some included titles like _Potions to Wake the Dead_ and _Spells for the Body and Body Parts. _Some were in ancient runes and some didn't have titles at all. Finally after Scott checked again that no-one was coming to hear what all the noise was about, Leahna found the book open on a desk next to a shelf, _Cartography; a magical means of maps and markers._

"Let's get out of here," Leahna said. "I've changed my mind, this place is getting creepy."

Scott took the book from Leahna and tucked it away under his shirt. "Yeah. Let's go."

They turned to leave, and suddenly Mrs. Norris was sitting there, looking at them.

Scott was pretty sure Mrs. Norris couldn't see them because Enzo couldn't, but where Mrs. Norris was, Filch was sure to follow. He remained still and quiet, and Leahna did the same, waiting for the cat to move on.

"Who's there? I saw that book move!" Filch said, his lantern appearing behind Mrs. Norris, and as he walked quickly into the library's restricted area, swiped at the air with his hand, directly placing it on Leahna's shoulder.


	8. Chapter 8: Quiddich Tryouts

Scott took the book from Leahna and tucked it away under his shirt. "Yeah. Let's go."

They turned to leave, and suddenly Mrs. Norris was sitting there, looking at them.

Scott was pretty sure Mrs. Norris couldn't see them because Enzo couldn't, but where Mrs. Norris was, Filch was sure to follow. He remained still and quiet, and Leahna did the same, waiting for the cat to move on.

"Who's there? I saw that book move!" Filch said, his lantern appearing behind Mrs. Norris, and as he walked quickly into the library's restricted area, swiped at the air with his hand, directly placing it on Leahna's shoulder.

Scott panicked when Filch accidentally grabbed Leahna and did the first thing that came to his mind. With his wand pointed at Filch's lantern, he said quietly "_Descendo_!" 

Filch's lantern was yanked out of his hand and onto the floor, smashing it and putting the light out. Leahna then grabbed Scott and pulled him back underneath the desk they had found the book, crouching together as Filch cursed under his breath and relit a match. "Where are you?" he grunted, swiping around with his hand in mid-air again. They had to wait there for a long time until Filch gave up and moved away, following a mewing Mrs. Norris. "I'll find you!" they could hear Filch curse into the darkness.

"That was way too close." Scott said breathlessly.

"Let's just get back to the common room." Leahna said positively.

They moved out of the library, back through the corridors, past a singing Peeves now throwing Flobberworm goo at Filch, and back into the portrait hole they had left open.

"This book had better be worth all of that." Scott said as he checked the common room was empty, putting down his Disasphere and pulling the book out from under his shirt on the table.

"So Rosewater said this book would help us find the prisoner, right?" Leahna said.

"Yeah, and I'm starting to think maybe now she does want to help us, since it wasn't a trap." Scott said, opening the book. The book was divided into chapters, each listing titles about making, editing, and adding onto maps.

"How does this help us find them?" Leahna asked Scott.

"Hold on, look at this." Scott said, flicking through the pages with his fingers. Someone had already folded a corner of the page inwards to bookmark it, and Scott turned to it:

_Chapter 4_

_Adding characters onto your map_

Now that you've laid out the boundries of your map, made sure everything has been made to scale and added landmarks, it's time to add people to your map. People can be made to appear on your map depending on where they are in real time, so when you pull out your map you can check to see who's in the area. In order to do this, you need to cast the Plottable People charm. Place your wand on your map and say the following words:

_plottable__a incanta_

"This book allows you to create a map so you can trace people!" Scott said excitedly, and pulled out his own map he had been using to navigate Hogwarts. He placed his wand on it and chanted. "_Plottablea incanta_."

Slowly little black shapes began to appear, and they formed in the shape of shoes. Scott was confused for a moment, before the first pair of shoes he saw started moving around; as other shoes appeared, more were clustered together in the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers, and more were in the basement and in the dungeons, most likely Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Here and there around the castle, were separate little feet on their own.

"Anyone of these could be the murderer." Scott said. "If only they had names…"

Leahna had taken the Cartography book and read on. "Here, it says you can add names by pointing your wand at the map," she said, doing so with her wand, "… and saying _plottablea namea."_

At her words, names started appearing on the map. Scott could make out the small names Scott Duncanson and Leahna Mayo in the Gryffindor Tower, where they were. In the corridors, Peeves was still with Filch. They could see Joe Cryal, and Dromeda Corvin, the names of the Aurors, patrolling the lower corridors, and there was an Axley Higgins and a Atrice Donovan patrolling the upper corridors, but apart from that, there was no-one else.

"It would help if we knew who we were looking for." Scott said.

"At least we've got the map to tell us who is in Hogwarts." Leahna shrugged, and she yawned. "Anyway, let's get some sleep. We've got Quiddich tryouts tomorrow morning. I'm going to bed, night."

"Yeah, thanks." Scott said, and yawned as well, folding up the map as he and Leahna parted ways. "See you then. Night."

Next morning Scott met Leahna in the common room for Quiddich practice, and his jaw dropped when he saw the broomstick Leahna was carrying.

"Is that a Firebolt?" Scott asked her.

"Yeah." she beamed brightly. "I bought it."

"It's cool." Natz said, and a couple of other Gryffindors came over to look as well.

"That's the fastest broomstick there is!"

"Can we watch you ride around on it?"

"You're not trying out for Seeker, are you?"

Scott watched Leahna handle all the compliments, glad that she had a moment where she could allow herself to shine. Once she had enough, he followed her out of the common room with Natz and down to the breakfast table.

"It seems like a nice day." Natz said. "I'm going to let James and Jemma know so they can come watch you guys too." She held up her necklace.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked.

"What is that?" Leahna asked.

"I'm sending James and Jemma my thoughts so they know what's going on." Natz grinned, answering Scott's question first, "And this is my _pouvoir de la pensée. _It's a necklace I got that allows me to do just that, anytime I want to."

"Cool." Leahna said. "I'm going to show my friends my Firebolt, see you at practice."

"Okay." Scott said. "I guess I'll see you girls after breakfast, I'm starving."

After breakfast they met up again, and walked down to the Quiddich pitch. James and Jemma were already waiting in the stands, and Leahna walked out onto the field proudly with her Firebolt, Scott with his Nimbus 2001.

"Alright then, anyone here who is not from Gryffindor, please leave." announced a large boy with short black hair, who must have been Jack Kade, the Quiddich captain. "Gryffindors, first I want you to make groups of five, then I'll send groups to fly once around the Quiddich pitch once. Anyone who can do so can move onto the next round for position tryouts."

Leahna and Scott got into a group together with Nick McDonald and two other girls. While they were waiting, they introduced themselves as Claire Redfield, a second year and Jessi Lennox, a fellow third year who had been on the team before as Chaser opposite Leahna. They watched as a group of first years went first, which none of them made it once around the pitch, then a group of third year boys that crashed into each other, and a group of fourth year girls that were too busy giggling amongst each other as they were looking at Jack to take the challenge seriously. Then it was Leahna's and Scott's group next, and Leahna tried not to go too fast as she flew ahead of everyone, with Scott and the others tagging along just behind her as they finished the lap.

Finally after the mixed groups had gone and made it through, Seeker tryouts were held. The Golden Snitch, a tiny little golden ball with wings like a hummingbird's. was released and whoever caught it first, got the position. Claire Redfield won as seeker when she spotted it hiding behind Kade's ear, almost colliding into him in the process. Then Chaser tryouts were held.

"Go Leahna!" yelled James from the grandstands.

Scott smiled and clapped for Leahna as she flew up in front of the hoops with the Quaffle, the scoring ball, and she gave him a thumbs up.

Natz and Jemma, as well as the girls on the pitch, wooped and cheered as Leahna scored 4 out of 5 shots past Kade through the hoops he was protecting as Keeper. The second Seeker was Jessi Lennox, who scored 4 out of 5, the third a fifth year girl called Kate Fletcher who scored 3 out of 5.

"Beater tryouts next, please!" Kade called, and Scott and Nick looked at each other. "Good luck, mate." He said in his Irish accent.

"You too." Scott nodded, and they flew over and picked up their beater bats, then Kade released the Bludgers, the enchanted balls that chased players through the air, which the Beaters would have to protect while hitting them back at the opposing team.

Scott watched as Nick hit the Bludger for about four minutes before the Bludger hit him square in the chest, knocking him off his broomstick onto the ground. Jack Kade and some others attended to him, but he only suffered from having the wind knocked out of him and a bruised ego. None of the other beaters had lasted for that long.

It was Scott's turn next. The Bludger was released and Scott started beating it back, blocking it from passing him almost every single time. He imgained like he had done the last time he had tried out for Beater, that the ball was some kind of deadly creature, and letting it pass him or hit him would mean certain death. After a while he was growing tired, not knowing how long he was lasting for when someone yelled, "Dementors!"

Scott beat back the Bludger, and looked over his shoulder. Dark clouds had rolled in without any warning, and Dementors had appeared on the horizon.

"Everyone back to the castle!" Kade called, and there were screams from some of the girls as they flew off.

Scott looked down, noticing James, Natz and Jemma were vacating the stands and running, as the Dementors closed down on them from above. At their speed, Scott realised the Dementors were going to reach them first before they could reach the castle. He accelerated on his Nimbus 2001 and flew towards his friends on the ground, not knowing exactly what he was going to do when he got there.

Only one person could go on a broom at a time, which left one idea – one he dreaded never to experience again. But with his friends in danger, he accelerated towards the Dementors.

"Hey, Ringwraith wanna-bes! Over here!" he shouted through the storm that was picking up, getting out his wand. The Dementors turned their faceless hoods towards him, some remained going after James, Natz and Jemma. He could see Natz holding onto her necklace and concentrating hard, calling for help to someone with her thoughts.

Suddenly a speeding bullet whizzed past him, and Scott recognised Leahna speeding past on her Firebolt, trying to distract the Dementors following them.

Scott kept up his speed, knowing the Dementors were now on his tail. They were so many of them they were in the air him now, and he felt like he was flying through a cloud of hundreds of Dementors. He could feel their misery and pain around him, sucking the happiness out of the air, and he felt the pain of their sorrow suck away at his soul, like at any second one of them was going to latch themselves onto him and perform the Dementor's Kiss. He felt exhausted from the practice, trying to do as many aerial manuvers as possible, not sure if he could do anymore…

A flap of wings came from his left, and Scott looked up to see Mirage and Striker, his and James's owls, had flown up to the scene. It seemed crazy, but their pets had come to help their masters in a fierce show of protection. Even though when they tried to rake at the Dementor's faces, they kept ignoring and knocking them over in mid-air, as if they weren't there. They were after the bigger, human targets running on the ground and in the air, but they still attempted to aid him. One Dementor bowled Mirage over and he went tumbling out of control in a explosion of feathers.

Producing his wand, Scott extended it out in front of him at the Dementors coming for him on his broomstick. Trying to conjure a happy image of him having swapped jokes with Leahna and Natz that morning during breakfast, and with a determination to help his loyal pet, he shouted into the wind, "_Expecto Patronum!"_


	9. Chapter 9: The Apparition Box

Producing his wand, Scott extended it out in front of him at the Dementors coming for him on his broomstick. Trying to conjure a happy image of him having swapped jokes with Leahna and Natz that morning during breakfast, and with a determination to help his loyal pet, he shouted into the wind, "_Expecto Patronum!"_

Whisps of light were shed from the tip in his wand like in his Defence Against the Dark Arts class, but nothing stronger than what he already had produced. The Dementors closed in on him.

There was a shriek from behind him, and Scott turned to look behind him, and realised the Bludger was still following him. It bowled through Dementors, knocking them around and attacking them as if they were Quiddich players on it's path towards him.

Scott changed course, and flew his Nimbus 2001 around the mass of Dementors, letting the Bludger smash through the lifeless wraiths as it was drawn to him like a slow magnet. The Dementors that were hit were left stunned in the air for the moment, before they resumed the chase. Scott flew around the majority of Dementors again and saw Leahna bullet past him as she did the same, flying through the air and letting the Bludger draw closer to her as it stunned Dementors, before speeding off and letting it come around for Scott. They repeated it together using teamwork, like they were playing some kind of aerial tag, or a deadly game of ping pong.

Finally James, Natz and Jemma reach the gate, trying to cast Patronus charms, each failing to cast anything effective. Then suddenly a large Patronus burst forth from the ground, and Scott could see Cryal on the ground casting his lion Patronus, with Dromeda joining him from the courtyard with her grizzly Patronus.

The Dementors screeches were loud and phanamagorcial, as the light dispelled them back into the dark clouds above. Scott slowed to a halt on his Nimbus 2001 as he watched this, relieved, when suddenly there was a large crack as something hard and heavy hit him in the back of his head. He toppled over his broomstick and fell, spotting only for a second as he tumbled the Bludger that had struck him. He spiralled through the air, catching glimpses of the owls, Natz, James, Jemma, Cryal, Dromeda, the fleeing Dementors and Leahna racing to help him.

Then he hit the ground, and everything went black.

He woke up hours later in the medical ward.

"Look, he's coming around." Said a shape Scott was too grogy to figure out.

His eyes adjusted to the light, and Scott suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. He reached his hand back and felt bandages instead of hair, and recognised Leahna, Natz, James and Jemma were sitting next to his bed.

"How are you feeling?" Natz asked.

"Like I've been hit in the back of the head by a Bludger?" Scott said humorously, then looked at Leahna. "Hey, Larnie. Did I make the team?"

"Yeah, you made it into the Quiddich team." She smiled.

"Congrats." Jemma said. "Well, now Scott's awake, I have to go… see you soon." She said to everyone, then left.

"How long was I out for?" Scott asked.

"Just for the afternoon." James said. "Don't worry man, we told the teachers, and they said you can catch up on the classes you have missed."

"And our first match against against Slytherin isn't for a while yet." Leahna continued, "So Jack Kade said as long as you're healed by then and Madame Pomfrey gives you the all-clear, we won't replace you?"

"Okay cool, thanks." Scott said, spotting Madame Pomfrey come towards them. "Madame Pomfrey, can I go now?"

"I don't think so." Madame Pomfrey shook her head immediately. "You are very lucky to be alive, Mr. Duncanson. If that Bludger that fractured your skull hadn't had killed you, that fall to the ground that snapped two of your ribs and your left leg would have. You'll have to stay in this ward for a few more days. And I'm going to have to ask your friends to leave while you take some Skele-grow, visiting hours are over."

Scott grunted, and lay back on his bed. "Okay. See you later guys."

"See ya man." James waved.

"Bye." Natz waved in unison.

Scott looked at Leahna, as she hadn't risen out of her seat. She leaned forward, and in a voice so Madame Pomfrey couldn't hear her, she said, "Hey, what about the map?"

"It's still up in my room in the boy's dormitories." Scott whispered back, looking carefully at Madame Pomfrey as she uncapped the Skele-gro nearby. "You won't be able to get it. But you can do something for me. Rosewater wanted me to find that book for a reason – I need you to find out what that reason is. Can you do that for me?"

Leahna looked hesitant. "Hmm, maybe. I've been thinking. If Rosewater wanted us to help find the prisoner in Hogwarts, we should just give the map to her and get her to do it. Or maybe to one of the Aurors. We shouldn't get too involved in this, it's not our job."

"I know." Scott said. "But you have to agree something is going on between Rosewater and Hebel. I want to know what it is. And if we find out, we can report it to Headmaster McGonagall. So please, can you just do this one thing for me? I'd do it myself, but I can't go anywhere at the moment."

"Yeah, okay." Leahna said. "I can't promise anything though."

"Thanks. That's all I could ask for." Scott smiled.

Leahna smiled back, put her hand on Scott's arm for a moment, then she got up and left.

"She must be very loyal to you." Madame Pomfery said to Scott as she poured Skele-gro into a mug.

"She's loyal to all her friends." Scott said as he watched Leahna's long straight shiny hair whip behind her on her way out the door.

"She certainly stayed by your bedside a lot longer than a lot of your friends did, she was here the entire time you were unconscious. She surprised me when she told me she was in Gryffindor and not Hufflepuff." Madame Pomfrey told Scott as she passed him the mug.

Scott took the mug, but looked a bit surprised. "She… she, what?" he asked Madame Pomfrey, in disbelief. Leahna would never miss any classes with her friends unless they had a day off for some reason. Before he had time to think what this meant, Madame Pomfrey grabbed his mug and forced him to drink the contents of the Skele-gro inside. Immediately Scott felt sick from the taste of the sour bone-regrowing potion. "What the heck is this!?"

The first few weeks had turned into months, and before Scott knew it, it was September already. Already the seasons had begun to change, the golden leaves of autumn quickly replaced by the falling snow of winter. First term was almost over and Scott rubbed the back of his head as Hebel instructed him on how to use the Patronus Charm in their private lesson, remembering his short few days back in the hospital wing. Leahna hadn't had much luck questioning Rosewater, as she remained as cryptic as ever to the both of them and simply asked them to 'keep their eyes on the map for anyone who shouldn't be where they should'. Scott, Leahna and Natz had taken turns watching the map for anything suspicious, but they had seen nothing out of the ordinary out of the Aurors and teachers they had come familiar with, which made Scott suspect it had to be Rosewater or Hebel behind the murders. He had even slipped James the book so her could make his own copy of the map so he could take turns watching it with Jemma from the Ravenclaw tower, but they hadn't had any luck spotting anything out of the ordinary either. So far since the deaths of the four at the beginning of term, there hadn't been any deaths, and miraculously the school hadn't been closed down.

"Mr. Duncanson, pay attention." Professor Hebel said gruffly, and Scott snapped out of his thoughts. He had reluctantly accepted the private lessons, only so he wouldn't have to go to Professor Slughorn's 'slug lunches'.  
"Now, I want you to try to broaden the scope of your Patronus. Off you go."

Scott concentrated on a happy thought, the image of having lunchtime with his friends, and focused as he pointed his wand in the air. Silvery light expanded from the tip of his wand, forming a cloud-like shape, and Scott thought he could see the body of something moving within it.

"Keep concentrating, boy!" Hebel urged him on.

Scott dug deeply and focused as he had done hundreds of times before, and was able to keep the half-formed Patronus up for at least five minutes before Hebel asked him to stop. Scott felt exhausted, as if all the magic had been drained out of him.

"That's enough for today." Hebel said. "Don't be late for your Ancient Runes class, Duncanson. Off you go."

"Thanks, Professor." Scott nodded, and tucked his wand back into his robes, heading out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts office. He navigated the halls as students exchanged classes, spotting Natz and Leahna together going up to the tower for Divination lessons, and although he didn't see him he knew James was off somewhere heading for Arithmancy class. He arrived at the Ancient Runes classroom and saw Jemma, who was taking the class with him.

"Think they'll get us to translate complete sentences this time?" Jemma asked immediately as soon as Scott arrived.

"Hello to you too." Scott said humorously, and shrugged. "I dunno, maybe."

Their teacher Proffessor Babbling was already writing runes on the board, and Scott and Jemma sat next to each other. Jemma put her books on the table and pulled out a small cube, big enough to fit a soccer ball in. She wrote something down on a piece of paper and put it into the cube, then closed the lid. There was a flash of light from inside the cube through the intricate weave-like patterns on the outside as Jemma placed her open palm on it, then there was nothing.

"What is that?" Scott asked Jemma.

"It's my Apparition Box." Jemma said. "I can put any object in this box, think about where I want it to go, and it gets transported there. See?" she opened the box, revealing it to be empty.

"Where did it go?" Scott asked.

"Natz has been driving me crazy with her necklace, sending me thoughts, so I'm replying back to her in the Divination tower." Jemma smiled.

Scott wanted to ask what she wrote, but Professor Babbling spoke up and instructed them to open up their text books. For the last lesson before the end of the term, she got them to, as Jemma had predicted, translate a question in Ancient Runes, then retranslate their answer back into Ancient Runes. Scott felt he did rather well as he handed his paper in, but Jemma was still scribbling at the end when Babbling had asked them to put their quills down.

"It's a waste of time." Jemma was saying to Scott as they left the classroom and headed for the marble staircase to the first floor towards the Gryiffindor and Ravenclaw towers.

"Well, maybe…" Scott said, ascending the marble staircase. "It could come in handy someday."

"Yeah, if we're stuck in a freakin' tomb or something." Jemma said sarcastically as they went up the swinging stair and into a corridor. "And when's that ever going to happen?"

"Hold on a sec." Scott said, as he slowed down. He looked behind him, but the corridor was empty. It has suddenly gone cold and dark. He looked at the window, and it had began frosting over again.

"Dementors?" Jemma caught on, getting out her wand.

"Maybe…" Scott said, also getting out his wand. "But this happened last time when we found the bodies, too…"

"That's weird." Jemma said. "Maybe Dementors were in the area when it happened. We should be okay…"

Scott looked ahead, and saw a shadow moving along the torchlight around the corner ahead. "No,wait, there!" Scott said, and started moving up the corridor. He rounded the corner, preparing for the worst…

There was nothing there. No person, no body, no messages. The corridor was empty.

There was another flash of light, back in the direction Scott had come, but dark again as soon as he looked down the dark corridor. It was at that moment Scott realized Jemma was no longer with him.

"Jemma? Jemma?" Scott called, before chanting the spell, "_Lumos_." His wand lit up like a torch again to light the way. Scott walked back to where he had left Jemma, but there was no sign of her in the fork between the corridors.

"Jemma? Jemma?"

But she was gone.


	10. Chapter 10: ECR

"Jemma? Jemma?" Scott called, before chanting the spell, "_Lumos_." His wand lit up like a torch again to light the way. Scott walked back to where he had left Jemma, but there was no sign of her in the fork between the corridors.

"Jemma? Jemma?"

But she was gone.

"Jemma? Jemma?"

"What?"

Scott whirled around, and suddenly Jemma was there.

"Where have you been? I was worried there for a sec…" Scott admitted breathlessly.  
"About what?" Jemma said, almost a little defensively. In her arms, she had her black cat, Midnight.  
"Your cat got out again?" Scott said. "She's a clever cat. You're going to have to put her on a leash or something."

"Nah, I don't think so." Jemma laughed. There was the rising noise of students talking to each other, then several Ravenclaws came around the corner.

"I'm off to the Ravenclaw tower, it's just around the corner from here." Jemma said. "See you."

"_Nox._" Scott said, putting out the light of his wand, and nodded slightly. "Yeah, you too."

Jemma left carrying Midnight, leaving Scott to think to himself. He looked at the window, which was still frosted over with cold. Maybe Jemma was right, and it had just been the Dementor's presence.

"Yeah. It was probably Jemma's cat you saw." Leahna said when Scott told her and Natz in the common room a few minutes later.  
"Yeah, Midnight was always following people into places she shouldn't back at home." Natz giggled.

"Yeah." Scott said. "Anyway, Larnie, we've got Quiddich practice, then I'm going to go talk to Rosewater again and try to get some info out of her."

"Yeah I know. Okay." Leahna sighed, her Firebolt broomstick in her hand. "You do what you want to do. I haven't gotten much out of her."

"Scott, does that mean you're not going to use your Disasphere tonight?" Natz asked.

"Uh, no… why?" Scott asked Natz.

"Can I burrow it?" Natz asked politely.

"Sure… but, why?" Scott questioned curiously.

"Well, me and James decided we'd meet up together in the Ravenclaw tower and stay up late. To look over his map."

"Yeah okay, I'll go get it." Scott nodded. "Try not to get caught with it, okay? The last thing I want is for Filch to have it."

"I promise." Natz said.

Scott went up to the boy's dormitories and got his wrapped-up Disasphere and his map, then came back down. "Thanks." Natz said as she took the invisible sphere wrapped up in crate paper, and then she left.

"I wonder what that's all about?" Scott asked Leahna.

"I don't know." She said, giving a little shrug. "I'm ready for Quiddich practice. Are you?"

"Yeah, let's go." Scott said.

Dressed in their Quiddich robes, they met the team out on the Quiddich pitch. Leahna, the Chasers and their captain passed the ball around to each other, while Claire Redfield chased after the Golden Snitch. Scott and Nick played an aerial game of tennis with a bludger, and protected the other players from it whenever they flew past. They continued this until it got dark, then Kade called it a day and everyone went back to the common room.

"So you're going to see Rosewater now?" Leahna asked, once she had met Scott back in the commonroom.

"Yeah, I've finished all my homework. Want to come with?"

"I still have some homework to do for Divination." Leahna said, opening up a textbook. "You go ahead, I'll see you after you're done. Bye."

"Okay, cool. See you." Scott waved, and left.

Once he had stepped out of the portrait hole, he took a look at his map. On the map, he could see two feet with the name 'Scott Duncanson' walking away from the Gryffindor portrait hole, and another pair of feet with the name 'Natalie Valentine' standing several feet away, unmoving, near one of the statues, as Scott approached. Scott smiled as he slowed down to look at the spot she was meant to be standing.  
"Natz, I know you're there." he laughed.

"Damn!" Natz giggled, her voice appearing out of nowhere. "How did you know I was here?"

"I can see you on the map." Scott laughed. "The map can't be fooled by invisibility or transformations, it still identifies you on my map."

"Awww." Natz whined mockingly. "Okay, I'm going off to the Ravenclaw Tower. Bye."

"Nice try. Bye." Scott laughed, and watched as the pair of feet that marked Natz on the map retreat down the corridor towards the Ravenclaw tower.

He kept walking, using his map to navigate around Filch and Peeves, not seeing anything out of the ordinary as he made his way to Rosewater's classroom, where her office was.

"Good evening Mr. Duncanson. Do come in." Rosewater said, as Scott knocked on her open door. She was pouring herself a cup of tea, student papers piled up and graded on the table nearby. Scott looked around her office, noticing she had hung up portraits of herself with friends; in one moving photo, she was laughing with Headmaster McGonagall, both of them looking several years younger. Another moving one was with five younger people, whom Scott recognized immediately.

"Is that Dromeda... and Cryal… and Axley, and Atrice?" Scott asked Rosewater, looking at her.

"Yes, well done. I see you've become familiar with them." Rosewater said.

"Not really. I know Dromeda, she was the Auror that escorted me to King's Cross. And I met Cryal there. I've seen Axley and Atrice's faces around as Aurors… and thanks to the book that you pointed out to me in the Restricted Area of the library, I've come to know their names while they are patrolling around the corridors at night." Scott admitted.

"And that's the reason you came, is it not? To ask me again why I referenced that book?"

"Yes, Professor. You have to tell me, what are me and my friends looking for? Is it a room or a person?"

"I'm sorry, but you've wasting your time. I've told you before, Mr. Duncanson, that to look out for anything out of the ordinary, and when you do, you come directly to me. Understand?"

"But-"

"Do I make myself clear, Mr. Duncanson? That is all I have to say on the matter." She smiled. "So you haven't wasted a trip, though, would you like some green tea? It's good for the body."

"No thanks." Scott said, not sure if he could trust Rosewater yet enough to drink her tea. Looking upon her table, he spotted something he had not seen on his last visit.  
"Is this…your family?" Scott asked, looking at the happy moving family portrait.

"Yes, it is. How did you guess that?" Rosewater said intriguingly.

"That girl in the photo with you… she looks so much like you." Scott smiled.

"Thank you." Rosewater smiled. "Yes, that's my husband Cid. He was a lot more handsome when he was younger. He was a bit older than I was, but he was loyal and honest to me more than any other boy was."

"He sounds like a great man." Scott nodded.

"He was. And a great wizard as well. But he passed away."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Rosewater smiled. "He's still with me, in a way."  
"And what's your daughter's name?"

"EC."

"EC?"

"Yes." Rosewater grinned. "It's… a long story."

"Oh, okay." Scott said, looking at the girl's long black hair. "She looks pretty." He looked up from the photo. "Professor Rosewater, before I go, you sent me the Disasphere for a reason, right?"

"Yes." Rosewater said.

"Was it to get the book for the map from the Restricted area?" Scott asked.

Rosewater made one of her cryptic smiles. "However you like to look at it. The Disasphere is for your use however you see fit, as long as it's responsibly."

"Right…" Scott said, deciding not to mention him lending the Disasphere to Natz. "Okay then, see you."

"Goodnight, Mr. Duncanson. Make sure you get back in time before lights out." Rosewater said.

"Yeah." Scott acknowledged, leaving her office, feeling like he had learned some things. He headed back to the common room, now having formed a plan.


	11. Chapter 11: Out On The Grounds

"Right…" Scott said, deciding not to mention him lending the Disasphere to Natz. "Okay then, see you."

"Goodnight, Mr. Duncanson. Make sure you get back in time before lights out." Rosewater said.

"Yeah." Scott acknowledged, leaving her office, feeling like he had learned some things. He headed back to the common room, now having formed a plan.

"So it's simple." Scott said to Leahna, James, Natz, and Jemma a few days later in the new term during Charms class. It was safest to talk during Charms class because there was so many loud verbal spells going on from other students that their conversation being noticed by Professor Flitwick was slight. "Whoever is making those messages to get out of Hogwarts needs an audience, so they're leaving them outside the house common rooms where they will reach the most people, right? I thought of an intruder charm, but anyone could set it off as they're moving through to the common rooms. So I was thinking of a way that only the author could alert us they were writing messages. And then I thought of it when I overheard some sixth-years talking about it for their N.E.W.T. exam in the common room; the Protean Charm."

"The Protean Charm?" James asked, as he attempted to magnify the croaking of a frog that was what they were meant to be doing. "_Sonorus_." The frog croaked loudly, so loud that Scott had to counter it by saying, "_Quietus_" leaving the frog to croak quietly as he continued.

"Yeah, you know, the charm that causes changes made to the original to be reflected onto a copy? So basically if we cast it on the walls outside the common rooms and on the walls in our dorms, if anyone writes on the walls outside the common rooms, it will be written in copy on the walls in our dorms." Scott explained.

"Yeah, that might work." Leahna said, saying "_Sonorus_." to her Raven as Flitwick passed them, then "_Quietus_.", raising and lowering the raven's cawing.

"Well done, Miss Mayo. Five points to Gryffindor." Flitwick congratulated, and Leahna grinned.

"It'd kind of be creepy though if it was written in our rooms, especially at night." James said as Flitwick moved off.

"Eww." Natz shuddered.

"The only drawback is, we'll have to check our rooms every now and then as well as the map." Scott said. "But it's only an idea for now. _Sonorus._" He jabbed his wand at his frog which made a loud croaking sound a bit lower than Leahna's. "_Quietus."_ he said for the last time, as the bell rang for their next class.

For Herbology they were grouped together to help Professor Sprout plant some Alihotsy, known for its leaves when consumed to cause hysteria, and by the time lunch rolled around, the dark clouds that had hung over Hogwarts had drifted away to reveal sunshine.

After lunch, Scott had his Care of Magical Creatures class. The class was being taken by Professor Grubbly-Plank, who's classes were held outside on the grounds. Scott was on his way out of the courtyard when he ran into Leahna. Scott favored Care of Magical Creatures out of most of his classes, because it usually meant he could spend more time talking with Leahna.

"Hey." he said, as they walked down together towards the little wooden hut on the school grounds, noticing that Aurors kept a sentinel-like watch towards the skies for Dementors.

"Hey." Leahna said. "Ready for class?"

"Yeah, I'm ready for just about anything now. You?"

"Yeah." Leahna shrugged. "I'd like to see what creatures we'll be handling. I hope it's not Nifflers again."

"I don't mind Nifflers." Scott said. "They would be easier to handle than trying to have Patronus lessons with Hebel."

"How are those going, by the way?" Leahna asked.

"Good." Scott said. "I've almost got a corporeal Patronus, but nothing impressive yet."

"Cool. Are you going to show the rest of us how you do it soon?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I haven't figured out when to do it in our free time." Scott shrugged, as they approached the area they usually had their class.

They waited outside with a group of students, none of them being anyone they recognized, until they spotted the gameskeeper coming to meet them with a giant boarhound at his feet. There was a bit of murmured confusion between the students about where Professor Grubbly-Plank was, until the giant man raised his voice.

"'Ello, 'ello, how are you lot?" he greeted warmly. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, but everyone calls me Hagrid. And this is me dog, Fang. The Professor can't be here today because she had to take leave, but she wanted me to show you lot a creature she was savin' for this term. So we'll be workin' in here today!" he said, gesturing his head towards the forest, and picked up a large sack he had deposited at his feet.

The group followed Hagrid into the forest in further murmured confusion amongst themselves. "Now if we're lucky, we'll get to see the younger ones, but we'll 'ave to be quiet because they'll bolt like the wind if they 'ere us comin', see."

"What will bolt like the wind?" a Hufflepuff girl said.

Hagrid didn't answer, and lead the class further into the forest. Nobody seemed eager to follow. They walked for about five minutes until they came to a clearing, where green grass could be seen sprouting up from the white of newly fallen snow. And in the clearing, there were the creatures Hagrid had meant to show them.

"There they are." Hagrid smiled proudly. "Unicorns."

Most of the girls let out excited gasps, but the boys let slight grunts and disappointed murmurs amongst themselves.

"Now be quiet, or you'll scare off the foals." Hagrid said. "Oh dear, what's wrong with that one?"

Scott looked at the unicorn in question; it was a foal, a brilliant gold color instead of the adult-colored silver, who was limping slightly as it walked.

"Who wants to feed it while I bandage it's leg, eh?" Hagrid asked.

"I will." Leahna said first, followed by a gaggle of giddy voices from the rest of the girls.

"Alright, you then. What's your name?"

"Leahna Mayo."

"Alright then Leahna, you take one of these vegetables here in me sack and feed it to her while I tend to it." Hagrid said. "Stay, Fang." He said to the boarhound, who slumped down in boredom to the ground, reflecting the behavior of the boys in the class.

Leahna took a carrot from the sack Hagrid lay on the ground and held it out for the unicorn foal; the foal was hesitant at first, then boldly reached out with its mouth and started to nibble on the carrot, licking Leahna's hand in the process. Leahna giggled.

"The rest of you lot can do it too; just be quiet and don't make a lot 'er noise." Hagrid reminded the class, holding the foal still as he wrapped a cloth around its leg tightly. "Er, could someone help me hold down the bandages? They're too small to hold down with me fingers."

Most of the class was too preoccupied with the unicorns; the Slytherins quietly scoffed at him. Scott approached the small foal that Leahna was now caressing with her hand, and bent down to help Hagrid hold the bandages in place as he wrapped them.

"Thanks you two. Thanks a lot." Hagrid smiled to the both of them.

"You're welcome." Leahna said. She waited until Hagrid had finished and went to supervise the rest of the class, before she spoke to Scott.

"I think it would be a good idea to have Patronus lessons with me, James, Natz and Jemma." Leahna continued the conversation from before as she stood next to Scott, keeping her voice down so the other students wouldn't overhear.

"I'd like to," Scott said, "So everyone can protect themselves from Dementors. But between classes, homework, Quiddich practice, private Patronus lessons and trying to find out why Rosewater wanted me to have the Disasphere and the map, it's hard to find the time. You know what I mean, you've got Quiddich practice too."

"You could do it during the weekend trip to Hogsmeade." Leahna suddenly said, forming an idea.

"Maybe." Scott said.

"Okay." Leahna nodded in understanding, stroking the chin of the unicorn foal. "You just do whatever you want to do."

"Thanks." Scott said quietly, smiling. "You too."

Leahna didn't mention the Hogsmeade idea for another fortnight. The next two weeks went quickly, and before Scott knew it the morning of the weekend trip to Hogsmeade had come around. Scott was glad for a break, as he hadn't had much luck finding anything interesting from his map. Leahna, Natz, James and Jemma seemed to agree. They had tried casting the Protean charm on the walls the murder had previously written on, splitting up and using Scott's Disasphere so they wouldn't get caught looking like they were doing something they shouldn't be doing, in a place they shouldn't be. After several tries after classes, they finally got it working, managing to get messages from Natz in her room that it had worked. From all four walls in their rooms, the five of them would be able to tell if anyone wrote on one of the walls near the house common rooms.

They had all managed to produce a passable Shrinking Solutions to Professor Slughorn,

give Hebel his assignment on different insignias of the Dark Arts, hand in a 1000 word essay on body Transfguration to Rosewater, produce successful _Sonorus_ and _Quietus_ charms to Flitwick, hand in an essay to Sprout about the Alihotsy plant and it's uses, produce a chart on Saturn's moons in Astronamy, and hand in other assignments to their optional classes. After that, avoiding Slughorn and his Slug Lunches, Quiddich practices, private Patronus lessons, and of course classes and homework, Scott was glad he could finally take a break and be himself on his trip to Hogsmeade, even if it meant he would be teaching everyone how to use a Patronus. He agreed with the others that they would meet together in the Three Broomsticks to discuss where they were going to practice their Patronus charms, as they hadn't thought of anywhere they wouldn't be bothered, and figured being in Hogsmeade would help them figure it out.

The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned under the cover of heavy overcast clouds with snow. After a nice helping of hot pancakes and hotcakes, bacon, sausages and toast for breakfast, they all queued up in front of Filch and the Aurors, who was checking their names on the list with the students who had been given permission from parents to visit the village. Filch gave them a dirty look as if he wanted to say something, but with permission from the Aurors they left through the doors and down the path to Hogsmeade, passing through the stone pilliars topped with winged boars. They walked together into the Three Broomsticks, asking Madame Rosemerta, the innskeeper, to get them all Butterbeers.

"So, where do you guys want me to teach you what Hebel taught me about the Patronus Charm?" Scott asked.

Leahna shrugged and remained quiet.

"Well, we could always do it in here." James joked. "I'm sure no-one would notice."

"Yeah, and get everyone to crowd around Scott while he performs it." Natz said sarcastically. "We can charge by the head."

"So why not the Hog's Head?" Natz suggested. "Hardly anyone goes there."

"There's still the chance anyone can walk in on us." Leahna said. "But it's the best idea so far."

"There's still the forest near the village." Scott suggested. "No-one would want to go out there in the cold."

"No, it's too cold, we should try to stay inside." Leahna shook her head. "It eventually leads into the Forbidden Forest, and besides, there's all those Dementors out there. Who would hear us if we got attacked?"

"True." Natz said.

"Yeah. Let's just go to the Hog's Head." Leahna told everyone.

"Okay." Scott agreed.

They all finished their Butterbeers and headed out, away from the rest of the students down towards the Hog's Head. They moved quickly, as the wind had picked up and not the snow had turned into sleet.

Suddenly there was a scream.

"Did you hear that?" Scott said as he looked at Leahna.

Leahna nodded, pulling her hood around her head tighter. "Yeah. I'm going to go check it out." She said.

"It came from that way." James pointed off into the white snow near the forest's edge.

"It sounded like a girl." Natz said with determination.

Jemma remained quiet, looking hesitant.

They moved off the path and into the forest, guarding themselves against the savage cold wind. As they reached the edge of the trees, they noticed some deep footprints in the newly formed snow.

"It looks like there was a struggle, maybe even like someone was dragged." James said.

"How do you know?" Jemma said skeptically.

"I don't, but it looks like it." James said.

There was a bright flash in the woods, the light from a spell cast by a wand. Scott and Leahna moved instantly, getting their wands out as they led Natz, Jemma and James, who did the same.

"HELP!" screamed a voice, definitely a girl.

"We're coming!" Leahna called back. They hurried from tree to tree, and Scott began to notice that there was a scarlet trail of blood accompanied by the footsteps that led them into the forest.

Then suddenly they came across a girl lying in the snow, whose arm had been deeply cut and had caused the bleeding trail they had seen in the snow. She was breathing heavily and looked like she was in shock.

"What happened?" Leahna asked her as Scott quickly attended to her wound.

"I… attacked…" the girl said breathlessly.

"Where did he go?" James said determinedly, scanning the horizon around them. Suddenly, he froze. "Guys, we have to get out of here. Right now."

"Hold on, I haven't treated her wound yet." Scott grunted, but Leahna tugged on his arm, having noticed what James had seen.

Natz clutched onto James's arm with hers. Scott looked up and away from her to see what everyone was staring at.

A few steps away, set into a small hill, there was a small cave. Seeping into the cave was a small body of water filled with lilypads, that looked like a marsh, if it wasn't for the fact that it was frozen over. Inside the cave, beating in sequence like the innards of the cave itself, was the disgusting site: thousands and thousands of Dementors growing from the walls. Their hooded heads grew disturbingly out from the cavern walls, until one cloaked shape detached itself from the embedded rock, and with a sickening pop, it floated into the air. Sensing the six people there almost immediately, it came for them, as more Dementors dropped out of the sky to join in on the prey that had wondered into it's nest.


	12. Chapter 12: Robes of Green and Black

A few steps away, set into a small hill, there was a small cave. Seeping into the cave was a small body of water filled with lilypads, that looked like a marsh, if it wasn't for the fact that it was frozen over. Inside the cave, beating in sequence like the innards of the cave itself, was the disgusting site: thousands and thousands of Dementors growing from the walls. Their hooded heads grew disturbingly out from the cavern walls, until one cloaked shape detached itself from the embedded rock, and with a sickening pop, it floated into the air. Sensing the six people there almost immediately, it came for them, as more Dementors dropped out of the sky to join in on the prey that had wondered into its nest.

"Go, get out of here, run!" Scott shouted to everybody as he stood up and stepped past everyone, faced the Dementors.

Natz screamed. Jemma was the first to run. James grabbed the girl and pulled her up underneath her arms, then Natz helped him by lifting her legs. Leahna helped by lifting her middle when she noticed Scott lift his wand towards the Dementors.

"Scott, what are you doing?!" she yelled at him.

"_Expecto, PATRONUM!" _Scott answered her with his Patronus charm. Scott hoped with all the positive emotion he could gather in his heart that this time he could cast a fully formed Patronus.

But what formed out of his wand was anything but a fully formed Patronus. There was a large silvery light, and the movement of a four-legged creature, but it shrunk back into his wand as the Dementors closed in.

Scott ran quickly backwards, then together with his friends as they fled through the trees, carrying the girl together. Scott saw Natz use her necklace again, holding it and squinting her eyes as she projected thoughts to someone.

The newborn Dementor caught up with them and flew over them, and immediately Scott could feel the happiness drain out of his body. Everyone's pace slowed, and the girl's body felt heavier. They would never make it out alive at this rate… Scott ran through the arsenal of spells in his mind, trying to think of one that could help…

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" Leahna said first, pointing her wand at the girl they were carrying. Instantly the girl was lifted up on a cushion of air, directed by Leahna's wand as they ran.

"_Confringo!"_ James yelled and shot his spell at an oncoming Dementor. The spell exploded into the Dementor, sending it flying back, only to be replaced by two more. They sped up and came for the group as they neared the tree line.

"_**Mobiliarbus!"**_**Scott cried as he finally thought of a successful spell, and pointed his wand at a tree, which was ripped out of the ground by the roots with Scott's wand movement, and with a flick of his wand, sent the tree soaring upwards in front of the Dementors as they flew into it.**

Suddenly a silvery Patronus appeared from the horizon of the tree line, a giant gorilla that radiated light outwards towards the Dementors, driving them back effectively as they shrieked in pain. As the flock of Dementors retreated, the Patronus faded, and the group saw as they reached the treeline that the Auror who had cast it called Axley had arrived, followed by Headmaster McGonagall and Professor Rosewater.

"Weren't you kids even listening to McGonagall when she said 'not to give the Dementors any reason to attack you'?" Axley questioned curiously. Axley Higgins was a big, tall man, who had short black hair and brown eyes, and wore purple and blue Auror robes. His face looked hard and stern, like his gorilla Patronus, and because of his muscle gave the impression he was not a man to mess with.

"It's not our fault." Scott started. "We heard a scream for help, and we found this girl. She's hurt."

"Good heavens." McGonagall said the moment she saw blood, and pointed her wand at the girl's clothes. "_Terego."_ Her blood was siphoned off. "Now dear, can you tell me what is your name?"

"Shay." The blond girl coughed.

"Alright Shay, save your strength. Axley, I must ask if I can use your assistance to help me transport this girl up to Madame Pomfrey's wing. Eda, I trust you will escort these children up to my office so I can get a full account of what transpired this evening. I'm sure that cutting their trip short of what little time they have left in Hogsmede will be of little consequence, considering the circumstances."

Half an hour later, they were all gathered in McGonagall's office. "And that's what happened." Scott explained.

"Have another biscuit." She said to everyone, pointing to the tartan tin she kept on her desk, and it was picked up and passed around as everyone helped themselves to a Ginger Newt. "Alright everyone, thank you for your time. You may leave now."

Everyone got up to leave, and as they did the door opened, and in stepped some very important-looking wizards. Scott looked in surprise as the Minister of Magic he had seen in the Prophet, Kingsley Shacklebolt, stepped into the office past them.

"Minister, I was not expecting you so early. Please do come in. These students are on their way out." McGonagall invited.

"McGonagall, I will be brief with you. I'm afraid we have no choice, to protect the students we'll have to close down the school." Shacklebolt wasted no time getting straight to the subject.

"Close down the school? Don't be ridiculous." McGonagall said defensively. "You said yourself the school could stay open if we had extra Auror protection, and the student that has been attacked is well on her way to recovery." She looked at the Scott, Leahna and the others as they had paused to listen to the conversation. "You are excused, all of you. Eda, could you please show them out?"

"Certainly, and I need to speak with the students further, if I may." Eda said, leading the confused group into the moving stairwell.

"Have any of you seen anything unusual on the map?" Rosewater said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Uh, no." Scott said awkwardly. "Professor, this is all authorized with McGonagall, isn't it?"

"Do you think I would allow you to access books from the Restricted Area if it wasn't?" Rosewater questioned him.

"No, it's just that we didn't mention a word about it to McGonagall." Scott answered.

"As you can see with the Minister of Magic in her office, she has more important things to worry about." Rosewater explained. "Now, I'll need to see you all in my office Monday after classes. I've got something important that I need to tell all of you. But now is not the time. I'll see you then." Then Professor Rosewater turned away, walking off down the corridor.

"What does she need to see us for?" Natz wondered.

"Who knows, but it has to be important." Leahna shrugged. She turned to Scott. "I guess we'll have to practice our Patronus Charms another time?"

"Well, I'd like to show you guys what Hebel taught me properly, but you saw me out there..." Scott sighed. "We were faced with Dementors, and I couldn't even get my Patronus to form properly. I'm not good enough to teach you guys."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, mate." James said.

"You're doing better than us." Natz encouraged.

"Speak for yourself." Jemma joked. "Nah, you were okay Scott."

"We've got the rest of the day we were going to do this. Yeah let's do it." Leahna nodded.

"Hmm… yeah, okay." Scott agreed, looking away from Leahna as they started moving again past a blonde-haired man that was standing in the corridor. "But the thing is, we need a place we can do it without anyone disturbing us..."

"Looking for a place to hide away?" the tall blonde man said suddenly, and Scott looked up at him. The white-blonde man had short sleek hair parted in the middle, grey eyes and a pale pointed face. He wore black and green ministry robes that looked smart and expensive. Before anyone could answer, he spoke again, after checking they were alone.

"You know the Room of Requirement?" he looked at Leahna.

"No..." Leahna replied, studying the man carefully.

"Figures Gryffindors wouldn't know where it is. And I expected better of Ravenclaws." The man said snidely, identifying their houses by their robes. "There's a room hidden on the opposite side of that huge tapestry, you know the one of Barnabas the Barmy?" the man asked, as he looked down at them.

There was an awkward silence, and then Scott said quickly, liking this man less and less by the minute, "Yeah, we know it, the one that has him training trolls for the ballet." 

"Well looks like we have a genius here." The man said sarcastically. "Yes, that one. Just walk outside that wall thinking of what you need the room to be, and it will appear."

"How do you know about it? Where you a student here?" James asked curiously.

"Yeah I was. I was in Slytherin, the best house. I hope they beat you all in Quiddich this year, but even that's not saying much." He said as he turned, looking at Kingsley Shacklebolt exit McGonagall's office. "Well, looks like he's done with the old crone. See you around, Mudbloods."

Scott frowned and clenched his fists, as the man took Leahna's hand and kissed it on her palm. "And a pleasure to meet you, Mayo. Why, if only I was a couple of years younger…" he gave her a wink.

"Who are you?" Leahna questioned, a little breathtakingly.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." The man let go of her hand, and turned to join Kingsley and the Ministry officals as they left.

"He was a real prat, wasn't he?" Jemma crossed her arms.

"I dunno… he was hilarious…" Leahna smiled.

"Eww, don't tell me you like that guy. He's like, what, twenty-something?" Scott said, a little begrudgingly. "I mean, he can wait 'till you're an adult or something. I mean a teenager and an adult – what kind of a relationship is that?"

"Let's just go to this room of Requirement he told us about." Leahna said, watching Malfoy until he disappeared around the corner, then stepped past Scott with the others in the direction Malfoy had pointed.

"Stupid Malfoy…" Scott cursed under his breath, and followed after them.


End file.
